No Gods, No Kings, No Reapers Terra Athernum
by Icarus636
Summary: The dream of Rapture never became a nightmare, under the banner of the UN and Rapture humanity united as one. Now as the Human Commonwealth stands as the only superpower matching The Council in strength and technology, an eternal enemy awakens, but mankind shall not go quietly into the night. HFY fanfic, different humanity, Paragon Sheppard.
1. Prologue

**Prologue, the second rebirth**

 **For those who know me, I want to let you know that I haven't abandoned my GOT fanfic: A game of wolves and bats; this is a hobby and an experiment for me, after playing both Mass Effect and Bioshock again, I could not stop thinking that those fantastic IPs deserve a better ending and continuation, so I have begun working in this story. The problem with GOT is that is too long, while this story will only carry on through the first Mass Effect and before.**

 **So for any fan of Mass Effect and Bioshock I hope you enjoy this, I am on my last year of college so don't be surprised if I cannot update periodically.**

 **2186**

 **Beneath the Atlantic Ocean**

 _He who controls the past commands the future, he who commands the future conquers the past._

 _Kane_

Sally Ryan knew what she had to do. She needed to save mankind, and perhaps the galaxy. As the submarine began to descend into the deep of the Atlantic, her doubts were only beginning to increase. She was about to return to the place of the birth of her darkest nightmares.

"Are you sure about this Sally? The illusive man will have both of our heads for this." Her partner Dr. Marcus Sullivan while piloting the submarine.

"He has been indoctrinated, you know that as well as I do, we are on our own my friend. This place may have the key to prevent all of this."

"I actually believe, it is too late" his voice began to tremble with fear. "The Reapers are here, their invasion has just begun. We need to escape off planet and join with the rest of the Alliance in resistance."

For a moment Sally said nothing, her mind wandered off to the horrors up there, all those people in the surface dying by the millions as the reapers were already on the process of destroying all of Earth mayor cities. But then she remembered all that she had seen on her first years of life, if hope lies somewhere perhaps it was on the place where no life remain, the place in Earth where the impossible can happen, even the chance to start a new.

"No, for once I believe time is on our side" as if on cue a swarm of fish clear the way of the vehicle, allowing the remaining lights of a long forgotten fallen utopia to distinguish on the horizon.

Buildings destroyed and flooded ruins composed most of the city, the beautifully designed art deco skyscrapers were covered by sea life, a morbid testament of the ocean reclaiming its territory. Only a few buildings remained on their feet, sustained by repairs made by Cerberus engineers in recent years.

They have arrived at the ruins of Rapture. Just seeing the ruined underwater city sent a shiver down her spine.

 _What am I doing? Is it right to start the nightmare all over again?_

"It never gets old, I been to this place at least four times, and I can still barely believe it. An underwater city built in secret at the middle of the twentieth century, filled with the best and brightest of humanity at the time. How much do you think mankind would have change if the inhabitants of Rapture would have share their new discoveries to the rest of the planet?" asked Marcus with a sad smile on his face.

For a moment, Sally did not answered instead she began to think about the splicers, the little sisters, the big daddies; would the monsters of Rapture have invaded the surface, would Rapture evil have infected the rest of the world like a disease? Perhaps it was time to answer those questions.

The technology and science of Rapture has helped Cerberus to bring back Commander Sheppard. The vita chambers, the ADAM slugs had been critical to the genetic enhancement techniques developed by Cerberus. While the molecular fuse technology once used in the skyscrapers of Rapture had been used in the construction of warships and Space stations, allowing the paramilitary organization to reduce costs and enhance their ships and clandestine infrastructure. All of these technologies had brought Cerberus into the most advanced organization of the galaxy and one of the most powerful. But now it was time to set this right, to embrace a brighter future.

"Take us to the northern part of the city, there is an intact area known as Fontaine Department store, there it is our objective" said Sally.

"Understood boss" Sullivan answered.

A part of Sally was hoping that the underwater building was already flooded, that the device was destroyed, and that this plan was not to succeed. She didn't like to play god in such a way, to change mankind from scrap, she could not stop thinking about that story from Bradbury "A sound of thunder" in which a man accidently crushed a butterfly during a time travel causing a massive change in all the timeline, the story was credited as the origin of the term "butterfly effect" in chaos theory. Who was to say that the events that are about to unfold are not gonna take a darker path, that the one already in place.

She took the highly advance portable computer in her arms, loaded with a copy of every known codex, regarding technologies, historical events, military tactics and messages to serve as instructions. Her own message in a bottle.

"I hope you are ready, all our hopes and dreams lie with you" she said to the machine in a whisper.

XXXXXX

 **2018.05.09**

 **UNN Building, New York**

 **IN ANOTHER TIME, IN ANOTHER PLACE**

"This is Mira al-Jilani for the CNN transmitting the first public speech of The Rapture Objectivistic Republic's Prime Minister Jack Ryan on the UN, as the once secret nation founded by the famous scientists Dr. Robert Lutece and Professor Nikola Tesla in 1919 as a secret research community outside any government oversight and later re founded by industrialist Andrew Ryan and Dr Brigid Tenenbaum in 1947 has finally presented itself to the worldwide community. Many questions had been asked about the 2 million inhabitants self-proclaimed Utopia located in the heart of the Antarctica. Meanwhile some claim without hesitation that the self-sustainable city that has been known for the past 6 years since their intervention in the North Korean nuclear attack on the United States in 2012, stands as the living prove that without religion, massive state control and the embracing of both individuals and collective achievements humanity can produce the closest thing to a real utopia."

"Now in 2018, finally after secret discussions with the UN Security Council the ROR has claimed that it is to be ready to present the greatest of its discoveries to humanity as a whole. In these last six years Rapture's technology now shared and co-develop with not only the five nations of the UN Security Council (USA, Russia, China, UK, France) but with several of the most important countries of the world (India, Japan, Australia, Germany, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, South Africa, Israel and Nigeria) has changed the world; with the medical industry achieving enormous leaps in curing the most dangerous diseases, and genetically inherit conditions. Construction and manufacture industry are improving with the new metal alloys develop by Rapture's industry and even agriculture practices all around the world have been changed completely with genetically engineering plants capable of providing nutritional content while growing in the most inhospitable environments replacing previous crops."

"Also around the world a growing list of nations had begun building their own neutron-void energy generation power plants, with the aid of the Rapturian corporations Wardenclyffe and Ryan Industries."

"However Rapture's impressive rising to prominence in the international stage has not been without conflicts. Rapture's constitution forbids the settlement of religious institutions on their soil, that and their completely atheist population and society has brought them in tension with the Vatican."

"The pope himself called the Rapturian people, a nation who had absolutely renounce faith and compassion while completely embracing the cult of themselves and the illusion that science can brought all the mysteries of the universe to light, Rapture national Motto: _no gods, no kings, only free men and free minds_ , is a profane ideology, that replaces the sanctity of god's grace with the absolute lack of moral and divine attachments."

"Also Rapture has refused to establish business with conflicted totalitarian nations, like the already weaken states of North Korea, Cuba or Venezuela, although they have made some commercial and diplomatic agreements with China."

"Yet for those who had seen Rapture in person, like this reporter herself, the secluded metropolis where crimes are almost inexistent and the distance between the low and high class citizens is very short, the city is not only the image of a high tech utopia, but it is an idea, an idea that we can achieve the impossible if we make an effort to reach our greatest dreams."

The camera switched to the conference room of the UN, where a fifty year old man and a thirty year old woman reached the podium escorted by four bodyguards.

"Finally it seems that Jack Ryan and his vice Minister Alys Tenembaun seem to be ready to give their speech."

"Good morning, my fellow men and women of this planet. My name is Jack Ryan prime minister of the Rapture Objectivistic Republic, but today I am not here as the chief of state of the world most secluded nation, but as a citizen of mankind." He made a pause to study the effect of the representatives of every nation and to allow his words to sink in the people watching his transmission.

"For decades Rapture and its people stood secluded from the rest of humanity because of the fear of fascism, totalitarianism, religious fanatics and nuclear war. We stood watch as The Cold War rage on, waiting or fearing the death of the entirety human civilization in nuclear fire. My father Andrew Ryan escaped from Russia during the bolshevist revolution, he came to America to start a new, but as he saw the atrocities of War World Two: the atomic bomb, the holocaust and the death of millions; a deep disgust and distrust of mankind was instilled into him, and he became obsessed with building an utopia free of what he considered the source of all evils: Altruism." Whispers of confusion exploded in every corner of the room, as Jack Ryan allow a moment for his words to sink in.

"Please don't mistake me, I am not my father and he did not refer to compassion or generosity but rather his believe that the masses as a whole can become ignorant and easy to sway, allowing for people with sweet words and charisma to control them by what they believe is the greater good. Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? He asked every day. When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing - When you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors - When you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you - When you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice - You may know that your society is doomed. That were the basses of his ideology and his ideals" he made a pause once again.

"But thanks to the efforts of those standing with him, people like Anna Dewitt and Bill McDonagh he was able to realize that in there is no root of all evils, nor an unique set of truths to guide the path of every human. There is no better way to achieve our best and help ourselves than to work and struggle to do better and those who stand by our side. In the words of Ernest Hemingway: _There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self_. As a result he worked together with his fellow industrialists, scientists and artists to turn Rapture in what it is today, a gleaming beacon of technological progress and culture." A little applause came from the crowd as he allowed a new pause.

"But now, as we stand at the dawn of a new age, and we see our world suffering the effects of climate change; social, political and religious conflicts; and overpopulation, we search for a new beginning, yet once again we embrace the idea of becoming better than ourselves and together with our fellow men work, we strive to continue to improve ourselves and our societies as a whole." many nod their heads and smile to the prime minister as he approach to the main subject of his speech.

"And so, I will just go to the point of this, or we will be here all day" A few laughs came from the crowd, but cease at the moment Jack Ryan's face turned deadly serious. "A few years ago, Rapture Space Exploration Initiative (RSEI) launched a prove to Mars in an effort to study the planet for terraformation and colonization" he turned to the screen, which soon began showing images of the red planet and sensor readings, before stopping in a point of the planet where a 3D scan began taking form. "This probe found evidence of a construction on Mars, an alien construction" Gasp of surprise and fear filled the chamber and no one could take their eyes away from the screen where the scan show the image of a ruined complex that according to the prove readings was thousands of years old.

"Together with the US, Russia, UK, China and a dozen other countries the RSEI has begun design of a ship known as the _Prometheus Flame_ to carry a team of scientist to Mars, where they will began a study of the ruins. So now as the question of: are we alone in the universe, has been answered, I send a message to every men, women and child of this Earth: It is time to realize we are but one people, one human race, we cannot continue to cling to ancient hatreds and distrust, we must move forward, we must work together as one and claim a place among the stars." He made a pause. "Only together then we shall build a new beginning for our children by working as one nation, one species. And I know that if we embrace our better selves and stand side by side then we will reclaim our future and the stars."

As he finished his speech, every representative of every nation began to stand up and look each other still trying to process what they just heard. Soon a few began to applause then, a few other, finally the whole room stood up applauding and smiling. For millennia humanity had stood divided by hatreds, but know perhaps because of fear or perhaps because of the love for their own who will soon face uncertainty they now stood silently united.

XXXXX

 **Codex - Timeline:**

1919 – A group of scientist led by Robert Lutece and Nikola Tesla establish a small research community in an unknown part of Antarctica. Lutece stays there while Tesla returns to the outside world, he returns later after faking his own death in 1943.

1947 – Disappointed with the state of the world after WWII Andrew Ryan and thousands of other industrialist, engineers, researchers and artists are recruited by the Atlantis Project an Initiative to see the new development of the small community of 20000 living in Rapture.

2012 – During the massive hysteria for the so call end of the world, North Korea invades South Korea and launches several ballistic missiles to the continental USA, all of them are intercepted by an unknown satellite with electromagnetic weaponry and cloaking device.

2013 – Rapture officially introduces itself at the UN, several government officials of every nation are invited on a tour of Rapture. In the Korean peninsula, US and South Korea troops push back the KPA invasion. China, busy with a join agrarian development with Rapture refuses aid to either side.

2018 – The existence of the Mars Alien Ruins is known to the public

2021 – Construction of the Hephaestus station, a massive orbital construction dock tasked with the fabrication of the Protheus Flame and every other space ship is officially over.

2023 – An observation post is set on the moon

2024 – The Thinker Mark 8 the most advance computer and AI on the world, is put in service as the Hephaestus station overseer.

2025 – Dr. Benjamin Lutece descendant of the legendary R. Lutece, develops the first Rift Portal system, a gateway capable of generating a tear in the fabric of space connecting two stable points. It is use to create a stable portal between Luna's outpost and the facilities in the US. A second rift portal is constructed on Hephaestus station.

2026 – The _Prometheus Flame_ construction is finished. A crew of 25 is prepared, 5 are from Rapture, 3 from the US, 2 Russians, 1 German, 2 from China and the rest from several nations.

2027 – The UN Security Council transitions into an executive council that takes the role of a provisional One World Government and an overseer for the space exploration development. Works of infrastructure all around the planet commission by the UN began to reverse the effects of global warming and contamination.

2028 – The _Prometheus Flame_ arrives on Mars. A permanent outpost is constructed while scientists began unraveling the mysteries of the alien ruins.

2029 – The Rift portal system connecting Mars's new permanent settlement known as Delfos with Earth is finished. The Delfos outpost begins to grow into a facility of 200 permanent crew. The joint engineer corps begins construction of a massive Orbital Rift Gate: a ring 3 kilometers of diameter capable of generating and stabilizing a gateway, and sending a ship towards any known coordinates.

2030 – The data store in the ruins determines that the aliens known as the Protheans used the outpost as a research station for their observation of a primitive humanity. It is establish that the ruins are almost 50000 years old.

2031 – Rift Gate 01 is finished.

2032 – The Orbital Rift Gate 01 is use to send a survey vessel known as _pathfinder_ to Alpha Centaury in order to determine if the system has any continental world capable of sustaining human life. After a week of uncertainty, the Rift gate opens again as schedule and the _pathfinder_ returns with survey data of the world of Chiron in orbit of the Alpha Centaury main star.

2034 – An endless stream of new technologies comes into existence; mass effect fields, element zero drive cores, kinetic barriers, and long distance communications.

2036 – A group of private companies and nations put their resources together to build the _Atlas_ , a massive colony ship determined to take 100000 people to the Alpha Centaury system.

2037 – Mechanic and genetic augmentations become common place all around the world, laws regarding the limit of implants and gene therapy are established.

2039 – The first praetorian augment suit is develop by Ryan industries. Based on the old Big Daddies suit, used by the workers of Rapture to operate in extreme environments, the praetorian augment suit is composed of a cutting edge nano fiber, highly advance subsystems and synthetic living tissue all of which work in combination with an user's implants to give anyone enhanced strength, stamina, and protection to any radiation, blunt force trauma and even the massive G force. Designed to be the new deep space workers, praetorian users can work for hours repairing or building space stations or spaceships, in only six months after their deployment of a praetorian workers crew, Hephaestus station is doubled in size, while any outer problem is constantly repair and refitted.

2043 – The Atlas is finished, after the activation of the Rift Gate 01 the ship travels through the tear to the Alpha Centaury system.

2046 – The Atlas capsules descend on the planet Chiron establishing the first human extrasolar colony in human history. The construction of two new atlas class colony ships begins on Hephaestus station.

2048 – Delfos City now with 2500 inhabitants celebrates its first decade of existence, five years before a baby girl called Alice Moreadu was born passing into the history books as the first human born outside planet Earth. It is discovered the map of a network of mass effect relays build by the protheans to travel from system to system.

2049 – Translation of Prothean data leads humans to the Charon mass relay. The relay is left alone for now.

2050 – A shipping accident at New York International Spaceport exposes downwind communities to containers of dust-form element zero.

2052 – Roughly 30% of the children born in New York after element zero exposure suffer from cancerous growths. Rapture's department of genetic enhancements, implants every single child suffering from the element zero exposure with Adam symbiotic slugs, in order to prevent any deaths and observe the interactions between the two living organisms.

2052 – Three new extrasolar colonies are established, while the eleventh journey of the Atlas transport brings another 100000 colonist to the New Rapture main settlement on Chiron. The so called unchained protocol is put in effect, which forbids any colonization or survey effort near the relay network as in order to avoid any space faring superpower from discovering humanity, yet. In order to connect those systems the construction of a Rift Gate network begins, with each system carrying its own Rift Gate.

2054 – With over 5 extrasolar colonies established and 16 systems surveyed with research and mining outpost in each of them, besides the permanent settlements on Luna and Mars and the facilities in the belt, the UN executive council and the colonial local governments establish the **Systems Commonwealth** organization as the main economic, military, exploratory and scientific body of Earth and its colonies.

2055 – The construction of the Rift Gate network Hub in orbit of Jupiter begins: several Rift Gates are built to permanently connect the closest colonies and systems.

[NOTE: the Rift Gate works as a tear on the fabric of time and space, so a rift gate can sent a ship to anywhere after setting the coordinates, however the longer the distance, the greater is the energy consumption while the precision becomes lower. A connection between two rift gates (for ships) or two rift portals (small scale; for people) is cheaper and much safer than an unstable tear crack open from only one side]

2056 – Onboard the Hephaestus station the Thinker 8 asks its engineer: I am alive? The station is closed for a few hours before Dr. Marian Porter granddaughter of the legendary engineer and creator of the first Thinker tells the Machine that by asking that question, following the principle of 'Cogito Ergo Sum' then it is alive. Dr Porter also activates a special code that allows the AI to have full access to its root files, in which a several personality traits of Marian Grandmother, Pearl Porter wife of Charles Milton Porter are accessed. The Thinker 8 renames itself as Minerva adopting a holographic look of a black woman similar to Pearl Porter. The new AI source codes laws are imposed, establishing that every AI is to be based around the personality of a tested human candidate in order to prevent a possible AI rebellion. Several people volunteers for the psychological test, and brain scan to become the new source code of every new AI.

2057 – Eldfell-Ashland Energy Corporation demonstrates helium-3 fuel extraction from the atmosphere of Saturn.

2058 – Production a new form of androids begins in the city of Detroit, the new Synths as they are called are develop with synthesized bio components achieve through Adam steam cells.

2062 – Construction of Gagarin Station (Jump Zero) begins beyond the orbit of Pluto.

2065 – The "zero generation" as they are called proved to have remarkable powers, most important minor telekinetic abilities and the ability to generate their own mass effect fields. A file from the Prothean ruins confirms the theories of the researchers; these children are what from now on should be known as biotics.

2066 – A group of voluntarily test subjects develop biotic powers when they are implanted with an Adam slug exposed to element zero. The Commonwealth's biotic department is established.

2068 – Terraformation efforts on Mars successfully achieve a nearly breathable atmosphere. Plant life begins to grow all around the planet.

2071 – A new translation of the Prothean ruins is achieved, revealing that the protheans were destroyed by a race of synthetics known only as the reapers. The information is not revealed to the public until the end of the year, immediately all synths and every AI above level 5 intelligence is forbidden on the outer colonies. Military technological development becomes a priority. Development of ion cannons and plasma lancers.

2072 - Earth's twelfth colony in the Tartarus System is established. As a trinary system, Tartarus has 8 planets and several asteroid belts, making it a center for industry and ship building. With a steady supply chain of resources and trade and a population of 11 billion as a whole the Commonwealth orders the creation of a military fleet in order to protect them from outer and inner aggression.

Also several new military ramifications are established: The Commonwealth's Marine Corps; The Commonwealth's navy; The Commonwealth's Starfighter corps; The Commonwealth's Intelligence Bureau and The Commonwealth's Special Forces Corps: composed of The Naval Special Warfare Command (N7), The Biotic Enforcers Corps and finally The Praetorian Corps (enhanced infantry with military grades Praetorian suits).

2078 – With a powerful fleet in service, the Charon relay is activated. Several systems are colonized, and a military and technological development is set in motion. The Commonwealth's operations net is put in place: system connected to either the mass effect relay or the rift gate network are mapped, giving some central systems the role of hubs for either network, for example the Arcturus cluster serves a relay hub, while the Sol or Tartarus systems serve as rift gate hubs for nearby systems.

2079 – The Commonwealth begins construction of the Arcturus Station, a massive structure located in a relay hub to serve as trade and military post. Several asteroids are transported to the Arcturus cluster by the use of rift gate systems, to be exploited and fasten up the construction.

2080 – Colonization efforts are halted until the development of the Commonwealth's over extended infrastructure and fleet is completed.

2098 – The Commonwealth's population reaches the 14 billion inhabitants.

2100 – Construction of the Arcturus station is finished, the entire commonwealth celebrates the turn of the century.

2105 – New developments in AI, energy weapons and kinetic barriers force the entirety of the Commonwealth's navy to engage in retrofitting and enhancements, while also a few ships are decommissioned, to be replace with several more advance versions.

2108 – Deep space exploration of a survey ship establishes the first contact with an alien species.


	2. Chapter 1 First contact

**Chapter 1: First Contact**

 _CSV Kalypso_

 _Designation: Commonwealth's destroyer/ Light cruiser_

 _Mission: Deep Survey of the Safire Cluster_

 _Crew: 2280_

Luna Da Silva, chief engineer of the Kalypso, stood in the observation deck watching the white planet in which they were in orbit. It was a frozen wasteland, but with a breathable atmosphere according to the scan. The captain has allowed his crew to vote on a name, Luna almost wanted to call it Snowball (yes too ridiculous). They had gone with Hoth, Elsa, Winterfell and Haida (for the people of Alaska). In the end they choose Kaldir for an old videogame, and because it sounded cool.

'What do you think, Luna, anything worth down there?' Lieutenant Missuro Su Kwon, chief of security and her best friend asked her.

'I don't know, maybe we should find out, even though we are beyond the Commonwealth's sphere of exploration.' She answered.

'Sphere of exploration? Seriously? Why does the Commonwealth's leadership insist in we limit our surveys. We should just activate every mass effect relay in our Reach and conquer the galaxy.' Edward Claymore, helmsman roared from his seat at the lounge near the window.

'Don't be stupid Ed' Dr. Nadia Marrash, the xenobiologist of the ship answered from her seat next to him. 'We don't know what is out there, I don't know about you, but personally I don't like the idea of activating a relay and finding myself in front of a Borg Cube.'

'Borg Cube? What are you, a hundred years old? Star Trek is before the dinosaurs.' Ed answered.

'Hey, I like the classics' she said.

'You want a classic, you should see The Expanse, Nadia.' Dr. Alexander Culpepper, the ship's psychologist cut into the discussion from his seat near the door.

'I don't think nor the Expanse nor Star Trek have a lot of weight this new era, Dr. Culpepper. We are already spacefaring, besides the Kalypso could defeat the entirety of the MCR navy while the Orion makes the Rocinante looks like a school bus.' Luna also joined in, to the surprise of Missuro.

'You watch the Expanse, Da Silva?' Dr. Culpepper asked, mouth agape.

'No, I read some of the books' she answered. A few laughs came from the group.

Soon, a message came to each of their wrist band communicators, marking them to return to their respective posts. Dr. Culpepper and Dr. Marrash went to the sickbay, while the rest headed to CIC.

Located inside the bowels of the ship the command center was massive holographic display in the center, with consoles and terminals all around it. The security and defense terminal was Missuru's post while Luna sat next to the helmsman in the front terminal that serve as sort of cockpit. Captain Ling Han stood at the center asking everyone attention, flanked by Commander Isabel Sinclair XO of the ship and Dr. Marcus Sullivan the ships chief science officer.

'Good morning people, I wanted to tell we have a serious situation on our hands.' The captain allowed a few seconds before continuing. 'A few minutes ago, our sensors detected a piece of scrap metal orbiting the planet. A drone manage to recover it, and found out that it was a derelict from another starship.' After a new pause, that allowed the captain to study everyone faces showing confusion and curiosity, he continued. 'Even after a preliminary scan and study by Dr. Sullivan it was concluded that the object itself is not Commonwealth.'

Silence and gasp of shock, suddenly gave way to heated whispers and conversations.

'We manage to pin point the location of a possible crash site in the planet, we are assembling a team to study the remains and perhaps to engage in…' his voice tremble. 'A possible first contact scenario. Any volunteers?'

'As a science officer I will be in charge of the away team.' Dr. Sullivan said.

'Lieutenant Missuro Su Kwon, as a security officer, I must be in charge of protection detail.' Lt. Su Kwon to Luna's surprise, cut in, after standing up from his console. Luna did the same.

'Lieutenant Luna Da Silva, as chief engineer, I am the best qualify to study whatever technology could be recover.' Missuru's eyes went wide. 'I will also recommend, we bring in Dr. Nadia Marrash as she is the specialist xenobiologist.'

The captain look to her then to Dr. Sullivan who simply nodded.

'Very well, the four of you, alongside side a detachment of two marine escort will take the Cervantes and proceed to perform a survey of the wreckage' the captain sentenced.

After a few minutes of preparation, the group proceeded to the cargo bay that served as sort of hangar for two light corvettes. Missuro did not gave any word to Luna as they boarded. Most of them including the two marines look nervous, but Nadia look like a child who had received an early Christmas present.

'I cannot believe it, true alien life. We could all end in the history books for this.' She asked excitedly.

'Don't go ahead of yourself Dr. Marrash, the protheans seem to be gone, for all that we know, who is to say, this knew guys are not history either.' Missuro said.

Nadia merely glared Lieutenant Missuro for this, while Dr. Sullivan and the marines kept quiet.

'I don't know, I am actually excited about the prospect of meeting true sentient alien life. We have been in planets with plant and animal life, and we have even observe planets with primitive sentient life. However the protheans did not just went extinct, according to a few records and theories they were exterminated. We must not rush blindly into the unknown.' Luna sentenced bringing somber expressions but also nods of agreement from several in the ship.

To everyone surprise two more people came through the hatch. The ship's helmsman and the ship's psychologist.

'Did you really thought we were about to leave you guys alone in this mission.' Lt. Edward Claymore cut into, follow by Dr. Culpepper.

'The captain ordered us to take part in the possible first contact scenario, Lt. Claymore job is to land us down there safety, despite the strong cold winds of Kaldir. And as ship's psychologist my job is to make a psych profile of any entity we encounter. I brought with me a terminal of the ship's IA Karana who hopefully will be able to translate any alien language present.' Dr. Culpepper said, as he showed his wrist pad and took a seat on the ship.

'Dr. Culpepper shall study their manners and language, Dr. Marrash and I will handle their biology. In my equipment, I had brought a Research Scanner develop by Ryan-Fontaine Industries to analyze any genetic structure we may found down there.' Dr. Sullivan ordered.

'Well here we go, up to face the unknown, together.' Lt. Claymore sentenced as he set the controls to open the cargo bay and descend into Kaldir's surface.

After a ruff flight passing through the atmosphere, cutting through the winds, the Cervantes finally landed in an stable surface of ice and rock covered by snow, half a hundred meters from the crash site.

Once landing and survey was complete, each of them grabbed an extreme environment suit. Those suits were like a middle term between simple protection gear and a full praetorian space suit. The suit was comprised of a light Nano fiber tissue with several protections and subsystems, it also included a transparent visor that could be open without separating the breathing system from his user, and left him exposed to any airborne contaminant.

The external hatch opened and Lieutenants Su Kwon and Da Silva; and Drs. Sullivan, Culpepper and Marrash left the airlock to the welcoming and frigid eternal winter environment of Kaldir, accompanied by the two marines.

The seven of them walked towards the crash site, luckily despite the howling wind blocking their sight, the HUD in their helmets allow them to keep track of the objective: remarking it with a yellow cube and each other remark with blue triangles.

Finally upon reaching a small depression their eyes set in the crashed alien spaceship, any hope that this was just some unknown private ship vanished, that long rectangle shape metal box look sturdy but it was definitely not human. The entire hull was crack open from the impact, several debris alongside the site mark the shattering force of impact and disastrous flight through atmosphere.

 _I will never again complain, about Ed's flying skills_ , though Luna.

Carefully the group headed for the crack in the hull, with Missuro and the two marines covering their backs with their rifles, as a precaution. Inside through the mess that was the transport, with circuit boards shattered and crannied cables flaring sparks of electricity all around, they all stood mouth agape and without breath upon laying eyes to the cockpit. Four individuals, all wearing some type of space suit, were strapped to chairs in what it look to be the ship's cockpit. They were alien without a doubt as human do not have three long fingers in each hand and feet, nor use such exquisitely design suits that seem to disregard protection for ornamental purposes. The most remarkable fact was that this aliens seem to have an anatomy similar to humans: with two of the individuals were clearly female in shape. The group stood still studying the aliens, while Dr. Sullivan began taking readings with that device so similar to a camera, and Dr. Culpepper kept his eyes in the wrist pad that held his connection to the Kalypso's computer. Meanwhile Luna began walking towards them escorted by Lt. Su Kwon.

With her heart running a thousand miles a minute, Luna approach the closest alien. 'She', assuming she was a she, look to be a little shorter than Luna, it was impossible to see her face because of the opaque visor. Another feature Luna could observe was in the sexual dimorphism was the hood that in the female's case covered part of the helmets.

'Hey…. Hello, are you okay…. we come in peace' Luna began saying, she was two heart beats from being a nervous wreck and three from saying, live long and prosper. From the side Lt. Su Kwon kept his hands on his riffle.

A pair of bright eyes suddenly shine from the visor, Luna felt a shiver down her spine. The alien girl reacted quickly and attempted to rise from her seat as Luna walk two steps always and Lt. Su Kwon aimed his riffle to the alien before being ordered by Dr. Sullivan to step down.

However the alien remain sit as she realized her straps were still attach, one of her hand suddenly press over her leg where Luna glimpsed for the first time a burn mark in the place.

'Keelah… shin at so lat muesh toreth' the alien exclaimed to everyone's fascination, in a voice that even trough electronic filter seem to be the one of a young girl.

'Dr. Sullivan, she is injured' Luna exclaimed to her CO. How put down the scanner and began studying the readings while walking towards them.

'I can see that, Lieutenant Da Silva' she approach the wounded alien accompanied by Dr. Marrash, who seem to be the observing the alien woman no longer like a specimen to study but as a patient in need.

'Do you think that medi-gel could help her' she asked Dr. Sullivan.

'Not sure, for what the scanner got; this one species has a very weak immune system, while also being dextro-protein dependent opposed to humans being levo-protein. However her injuries are serious, we have nothing to lose.' He answered

'Easy, this will help you, I hope.' Dr. Nadia Marrash said softly as she approach to the girl.

'Yure at shus ta sok?' the alien asked in a tone that almost sound like a question and also transpire the pain of her injuries.

Nadia's med tool applied some medi-gel in the wound, healing the area immediately.

The alien girl visibly relaxed after that, she carefully released the straps or her seat and look to the group in what they assumed it was curiosity.

'Ghen tok noret asari?' she asked, to the group who simply observe her. Then she looked to her fellow aliens and immediately stood up and headed almost ran to them.

'Keelah, shi nas tarron at sut!' she almost shouted to one of her unconscious partners.

This one a male, began rubbing his head before waking up, then he looked towards the girl.

'Nat, shu tan kolen? Giuy ko ta batarian bosh'tet?' he asked the girl.

The girl simply pointed towards them before one again speaking in more incomprehensible words. The man quickly stood up and look to them in something akin to both fear and confusion, before almost immediately turning into cautious curiosity.

'Wait a minute, it seems like Karana has finished analyzing the syntactic structure of their language.' Interrupted Dr. Culpepper, holding his wrist pad and terminal, after pushing a holographic button, he look towards the aliens.

'Farrot, as shi et tas? kot in, as huer as humans (hello are you okay? We found you, we are humans)' Dr. Culpepper began speaking with his words being translated into the alien language by the speaker in his wrist pad.

'Humans!?' the alien exclaimed surprised although he visibly relaxed. Soon the doctor click another holographic button in his terminal, before turning towards the aliens again.

'We never heard about your species.' The male alien said, as to everyone's surprise the communicators in their helmets in connection with the computer began translating every word.

'Yet you look so much like the asari, it is amazing' the girl added.

'Asari? Beg your pardon' Dr. Culpepper asked.

'Another species, they are physically similar to you, or us for that matter. Only that they have blue skin and lack any fur growing on their skin.' The male said, before turning towards the girl. 'Lia check on the others' the girl obey and procced to wake the other two passengers, trying to wake them up or check their injuries

'My name is Daon'Nuzzra vas Alarei, Quarian Migrant Fleet Marines' he said with some content of pride.

'Dr. Alexander Culpepper, from the CSV Kalypso, Human Commonwealth's navy' he make a pause to study the alien's reaction. 'This are my colleagues: Lieutenants Luna Da Silva, and Missuro Su Kwon' he continue, as he wave to them. 'And Doctors Nadia Marrash and Marcus Sullivan.'

As the other two quarians wake up, with the other female standing up without any trouble and looking to the humans with caution, the girl stood next to Daon'Nuzzra.

'I am Sura'Leth nar Rayya, thank you for helping me with my wounds' she kindly said.

'You are welcome' this time it was Dr. Marrash who answered as her voice was also translated by the wrist pad.

The other male however as he stood up, he almost collapsed into the floor as tiny drops of red liquid began dripping from his side. The three quarians immediately came to his aid.

Dr. Marrash and Culpepper also joined them, while Dr. Sullivan use his scan to analyze the injured alien.

'It seems he has a piece of scrap metal stuck in his side, luckily it did not pierce any internal organs' he added to the group.

Dr. Marrash walked into the group of quarian and stood right next to her new patient. 'Let me see, this will help you' the male alien look at her in distrust, however Sura told him that they could trust them. Nadia used her med tool and applied medi-gel into the injury.

'This will make you feel better and stop the bleeding but you will need surgery to remove the small piece of metal in your side.' She added.

'Thank you, healer. My name is Kael'Traen nar Rayya, by the way.' He said still clinging to his side but sounding much more relieve.

'No problem. My name is Nadia Marrash, a pleasure to meet you Kael.' She answered as she smile to him.

'Thank you for your aid, but we are not safe here, this ship is probably unstable. Do you have a ship of your own?' Daon asked.

'The Cervantes, our ship is landed very close from her. We should head there' Dr. Sullivan suggested. 'Then maybe we can began answering each other questions.'

As the group abandoned the wrecked shuttle, with Dr. Culpepper aiding the injure Kael to walk, the two marines and Lt. Su Kwon keep a watchful eye on the peculiar group of aliens that they had just met. In the much more comfortable inside of the Cervantes the group sat in the bridge, around the control table and cockpit. For reasons of security Dr. Sullivan had activated the biometric and code locks, ensuring that this aliens could not be able to manipulate the equipment around them, or even steal the ship.

Kael was taken to the emergency room were Dr. Marrash aided by the robotic arms of the vita chamber made almost immediate surgery on the quarrian young man, rendering him back in service, as soon as no risk of infection both on the alien or in of airborne alien virus in the human ship was determined the two of them walked into the bridge, meanwhile every crewman included Ed who was still fascinated by the arrival of the quarians was given and earpiece and communicator to translate every word heard or spoken.

'Well, now that introductions have been made, is time to start clearing some questions' Dr. Sullivan began. 'Me and my colleagues are from the CSV Kalypso a Commonwealth's destroyer send to survey this system for colonization or exploitation. The Commonwealth is the unified government and main economic, military, exploratory and scientific body of the planet Earth, humanity's homeworld and its colonies. We were studying and naming this system for our charts when we detected a piece of debris floating in orbit that allowed us to track that crash site. Now what happened with you?' Dr. Sullivan said, to their guests.

'I see, well first of all, Dr. Sullivan in the name of my crew and me, we thank you for aid. The Vikael my ship was tasked with escorting this three younglings to Illium a world distant from here for their beginning of their pilgrimage' Daon'Nuzzra began.

'Pilgrimage?' Luna interrupted him. 'It is some kind of religious ceremony of your people?'

'Not exactly, it is more like a rite of passage, from youth to maturity' Daon continued. 'Young quarians are required to undertake a Pilgrimage outside the fleet in order to pass into full adulthood. The Pilgrimage is an opportunity for quarians to experience the world outside the Migrant Fleet, interact with other cultures, and learn to appreciate life among their own people. Their departure is a major event; the whole crew assembles to see them off, and they are given many gifts to aid them on their journey, along with immunity-boosting injections and advice on surviving on the outside. The young quarian cannot return to the flotilla until they have found something of value to bring back - whether information, money, or supplies. When they return, they do not go back to their birth ship, but instead select a new ship to join; this helps maintain genetic diversity by preventing intermarriage between close relatives. The quarian presents their gift to the captain of the new ship to prove they will not be a burden on the crew.'

'Fascinating, so all of your people live in a migrant fleet. Remarkable' Dr. Sullivan answered before being interrupted, by the blue hologram of a white hair woman, that appeared on the middle of the room startling the quarians a little.

'Dr. Sullivan pardon the interruption, but Captain Han has requested a report about the mission' the hologram said.

'I see, thank you Karana' he answered. 'Beg your pardon, Daon, allow me to introduce you to Karana she is the Kalypso's artificial intelligence, it was she who translated your language and ours.' The four quarrians stood in disbelieve before quickly stepping back in fear.

'You have an IA!? Are you all crazy!?' his tone was so furious and fearful that the marines look to be about to take out their weapons. 'Do you know what will happen if the council finds out?'

'The council?' almost everyone asked at the same time.

'You do not know about the council?' Kael asked with a tone of disbelieve.

'Karana please allow us a moment, tell the captain I will give you my report in a few hours' Dr. Sullivan told the hologram. 'I am afraid we don't know, about this Council you refer to, what is the Council?'

'You do not know about the Council?' Daon said in shock. 'Well to be fair, we haven't heard about humans or the Commonwealth before, how many alien species have you encounter so far?' the humans exchange looks.

'The truth is, you are the first alien species we have encountered so far.' Luna said, to the quarians shock.

'How long have you been space faring?' Sura asked.

'Less than a century actually' Dr. Sullivan answered.

'I see, remarkable though, for a ship so advance as this one, and such an incredible medical equipment, we assume you were part of some fairly new, council client race'

'I see but what is the council? And what is the conflict about AIs like Karana.' Dr. Sullivan asked.

And so, the quarians began telling them about The Citadel Council, the Asari, the Turians and the Salarians. About the mass relay network with The Citadel in the center. And finally about the quarian's creation of the geth and the loss of their homeworld Rannoch at the hands of their own creation, when he finished his story every human was either in disbelieve or a deep fear that they could follow the same fate because of the AIs they have develop.

In response Dr. Sullivan began to tell the quarrians the story of humanity, of Rapture and the threat of nuclear war, then the discovery of the prothean ruins and unification of the species. He continue then with the story of the colonization of outer systems through the rift gates, the threat of their own IA rebellion which gave way to the source code laws, then to the activation of the mass effect relays and the survey missions into the nearby systems.

'So all of your AIs are based on a personality core, develop through brain scans on humans? Unbelievable, but the fact you have expanded so much in so little time is impressive. Yet what about those rift gates you said to use, are your people really not bounded by the mass effect relay network?'

'Well, we still use the activated relays to connect some areas of our space but most of our territory is bound by the rift gates, devices built similar to rings with diameters between 3 and 6 kilometers. Each rift gate works like a hadron collider stabilizing a rift or as some call a tear in the fabric of space allowing a passage from one point of space to the other. We can also create smaller rifts from ship to ship or from orbit to surface.' Dr. Sullivan began explaining.

'I found it hard to believe, every single race in known space is dependent of the mass effect relay and element zero. I have never met your race before and I have no reasons to believe that you are lying, however I haven't seen anything that convince me otherwise, yet.' Daon said, while crossing his arm in disbelieve.

Doctor Alexander Sullivan remain in thought for a few seconds, then his eyes seem to carry the glint of an idea.

'Well, I believe we can prove you otherwise' he said confident before turning to his side. 'Dr. Marrash is there any threat of infection if we bring them to the Kalypso?'

'No, with their environmental suits, I am 100% sure that there is no risk for any pathogen at all.'

'Perfect, I believe is time for you to meet our captain.' He said while looking at Daon, then turn to LT. Da Silva. 'However first things first, Luna I doubt that shuttle can be repaired but could try to recover any useful components? Perhaps at least repaired the communications so as our new 'friends' could contact help.' Luna nodded with her head.

'Very well then' he said before activating his wrist communicator. 'Karana, please tell the captain that is better if he comes down here. After that I will be presenting my report in person and I will bring one of our guest with me.' He turned to the quarrians who look at him, concern.

'Please follow me he said to the group' all of them follow to the cargo hold. 'Activate rift portal Kalypso to Cervantes.' He said to his wrist.

As he finished giving the order, a type of contraption in the ship's roof deployed like flower opening its petals and extending two metallic arms in the central space of the ship. Soon the two arms adopted the shape of a semi-circle, before a stream of electricity went through them, and like a fabric torn open by force, the space itself opened up in a tear than soon was stabilized as a gateway that even allow to see the area of another ship's cargo bay with three men walking towards them. The four quarians back away in fear and disbelieve, yet not before a minute later, a man dress in much more regal formal cloaks with a hat of some kind, flanked by two armed men, walked through the rift. After that the tear closed like a ripple in the water after there is no more movement.

'Daon'Nuzzra vas Alarei I would like you to meet Captain Ling Han, commanding officer of CVS Kalypso, Commonwealth's fleet' he turned to his captain. 'Captain Han, allow me to introduce you, to Daon'Nuzzra vas Alarei, Sura'Leth nar Rayya, Kael'Traen nar Rayya and…' he made a pause as he look to the last quarian. 'Sorry I didn't catch your name'

'Ranna'Shiun nar Rayya… You open a… portal in the middle of nowhere… it is unbelievable!' She exclaimed her voice shaking.

'Well, Captain this are quarians, members of a migrant nomadic fleet. They had been telling us about a massive alien dominion known as The Citadel Council, whatever information they can provide us, will become extremely valuable for command.' Dr. Sullivan declared.

'I see, outstanding job, everyone' he said while looking to the rest of the crew. 'What do you suggest we should do, now?'

'Well, I think we may be able to save some of their ship's components to share technology and see if we can trigger any rescue beacon for them' he said while looking to the quarians. 'Or in another case, we could give them a ride to the nearest habitable world' he said with some hesitation.

'Do you have any star chart, galaxy map we could use?' the captain asked to the quarians.

'Yes, but all the information is in our ship's computer, we don't know how much of that if salvageable.' Daon answered after some hesitation.

'I can try to recover any data or components' Lt. Da Silva volunteered.

'You may need some help to understand our systems, I can aid you with them' Sura suggested, catching everyone off-guard.

'Very well, who is your commanding officer?' The captain asked.

'I believe that role is mine' Daon declared.

'Understood, if you think is right you can come with me to the Kalypso, our main ship in orbit. I need to present a report to the Commonwealth's high command, and I may need your help to do it, this a historic moment for my people, not only knowing there is sentient space faring life out there but also knowing what we may face in the future. Meanwhile Lieutenant Da Silva and your crewman can begin searching your ship for repairs or salvageable components.' The captain sentenced.

Daon'Nuzzra went with Captain Han through the rift portal with some hesitation to the Kalypso. Meanwhile Luna and Sura escorted by Lt. Su Kwon and one of the marines, while the others were hanging together in the Cervantes.

'So your people build all those rift gates to link systems not connected to the mass relay network?' Kael asked while looking to the holographic displays of the rift gates and some of the systems and vessels of the Human Commonwealth. 'Keelah, you are like the new protheans, and you just began exploring space a few decades ago. It is impressive.' Kael would have probable do not believe it, if he had not seen three men walking through a hole in time and space and then watching Daon his own chaperon disappearing through that same rift portal.

'Most of our technology was based in our discoveries of the prothean archives, however our genetic, AI and anti-matter energy production was incredibly advance even at the time of our discovery of the prothean ruins. My people always strive to do and become better, we all make choices and those choices in the end make us who we are. So in the end each of our actions not only move us forward, but the entire great chain of endeavor which links our entire civilization together.' Dr. Marrash explained with deep conviction on her voice.

Luna and Sura began to scan the less damage systems of the ship, before twitching around the components capable of being repair. In the entrance of the ship, Lieutenant Su Kwon remove his helmet and turned on a cigarette, with his incinerate! Powers. While all plasmids were forbidden to the public, despite the fact gene tonics like enhanced memory or superior resistance were too expensive and difficult to obtain (test of psychology, resistance and health were mandatory; besides the price), plasmids critical to military or research were allowed for access, only if you could pass the test of strength, will and psychological stability require by the department of genetic enhancement. Also every splicing therapy was only reserved for people older than 18 or 16 in some cases, no minor was allowed to be subjected to gene mod therapy.

As the smoke in the cigarette flew the cold air of the exterior, the sound of footsteps cracked in the enhanced hearing of Lieutenant Missuro Su Kwon, making him go into alert mode.

Meanwhile on orbit, a few archives of the quarian's ship codex had been transferred to the Kalypso's computer, the files regarding The Citadel Council and its members the asari, salarians and turians had attracted the attention of not only the senior officers but also several CIC operators.

'I cannot believe it' one said. 'An entire race of blue skin women, seems like a dream come true.'

'Come on, they are aliens, who is to say, their ports are compatible with the tool between your legs' another added, bringing a choir of laughter.

But the captain alongside Daon was in the briefing room discussing to transfer the quarians off world without allowing the whole galaxy information on humanity. For the time being, just as Rapture's best defense against the threat of nuclear war and intervention was its secrecy, humanity for all stands and purposes was not ready to engage in the full galactic community, yet. The Commonwealth was still young, more so if you compare it to a government two millennia of age, and events like The Rachni war, Krogan Rebellions and Geth Rebellion seem to confirm the Commonwealth's idea that the galaxy was a dangerous place, and humans needed to step carefully if they were to avoid conflict. Daon was impressed by the Kalypso and the technology of the Commonwealth, however he did not kept to himself his opinions on the use of IA, before sitting with the captain and XO to explain what had happened.

'Captain there is something you should know' Daon said. 'Our ship did not crashed, we were shot down.' Both the captain and first officer raise a brow to that

'Shot down? By who or what? The geth?' the captain asked.

'No, geth have not go beyond the Perseus Veil in centuries, we were attacked by batarian slavers'

'Slavers?' Commander Isabel Sinclair asked, with an expression of horror. 'Slavery is allowed in this galactic government?'

'No is not, these are criminals, that go around Council's law. We were attacked and we were attempting to loss them in the frozen winds of this planet atmosphere, we succeeded, but our damages were critical, so we crashed.' He made a pause. 'I doubt this pirates could be a threat to a ship like this. But we need to get out of here as soon as possible.'

Suddenly the AI hologram appeared in the middle of the room. 'Sorry captain, but we have a priority message from the Cervantes.'

'Captain we have been attacked!' the hologram of Ed Claymore replace the AI's interface, the three individuals stood up shock. 'We received a warning from Lt. Su Kwon, then silence, then a group of four eyes freaks attempt to blow up the ship with their rifles before our laser defense system cooked them alive.'

'Four eye freaks? Did they have yellow skin and no hair?' the quarrian added before an image appear of the screen of one ugly creature with four black eyes, yellow skin and sharp needle like teeth. 'Yes those are batarians, and they are most likely the same ones who attack us.'

'Slavers? My god, no. They have just left the crash site a few moments ago, and they took Lieutenants Da Silva, Su Kwon and Sura with them' the silence that had fallen was almost deafening.

 **CODEX:**

 **Vindicator-Class Destroyer: One of the most versatile ships in the Commonwealth's navy an 800 meters long, small cruiser, design to engage frigates or corvettes, or to act as a front of the line ship in fleet formations. In wolf pack tactics this ship can use its multiple mass accelerators turrets to overwhelm an enemy cruiser or dreadnought while acting in combination with ally frigates and corvettes. However this ship most powerful weapon is a medium range Tiamat cannon. Like most Commonwealth ships the vindicator carries an eezo core to power the ship while allowing it to tap into a mass effect relay to achieve full FTL, despite the fact most Commonwealth's ships tend to travel more often through rift gates, than through the relay network.**

 **Orion-Class Corvette: A small ship built for a crew compliment between 8 and 12. It is too small to carry heavy weapons, instead it serves as a "fighter hunter" or support in CQC engagements, while also providing survey scan for missions.**

 **Tiamat Magnetic-Hydrodynamic Cannon: Similar to a directed energy weapon, this cannon consist on an electromagnetic field suspending a liquid iron-uranium-tungsten alloy shaped into armor-piercing projectiles when fired. The jet of molten metal, accelerated to a fraction of the speed of light, destroys targets by impact force and irresistible heat.**

 **Medi-Gel: Develop by the Tenembaum Foundation, medi gel is a bio gel develop through the use of Adam slug stem cells.**

 **Data-wrist: A computer terminal, communicator, medi-gel applier and hacking device, develop by Ryan-Fontaine Industries; issue to every Commonwealth's soldier.**


	3. Chapter 2: New friends new enemies

**Chapter 2: New friends & new enemies**

 **Thanks for all the feedback, I was surprised by the enormous response of the community taking into account that Crossovers are generally less popular than single stories.**

 **Strato1: Yes I know, one of the reasons I am writing this fanfic is to practice my English. Spanish is my first language, just like our good Admiral Hackett I am from Buenos Aires, Argentina.**

 **CHMIEL: Thanks**

 **OMAC001: Don't forget that Rapture's super advance technology is in Humanity's hands, that and some secrets shall be revealed as the story progresses.**

 **The Man in the Mirror: Sure and thanks**

 **AshSupport: Just wait and see and thanks**

 **Coduss: I know, sometimes when I upload the file the spaces use to show space-time jumps are erased, I am practicing my plot development.**

 **Johng23: Thanks, sorry for the delay, it has been a busy week**

Around the Cervantes were the bodies of six yellow skin aliens, with their armors charred by the defense cannons of the ship. The Orion class corvettes were equipped with a point defense ion laser system designed to destroy incoming missiles or enemy fighters, no one had expected that they will be use against ground targets, yet they have been remarkable successful.

Lieutenant Edward Claymore was grateful for that at least. After the failed assault Doctors Marrash and Culpepper alongside Kael'Traen and Ranna'Shiun had been examining the batarian's communicator devices to track down the rest of them. The remaining marine, private Lucas Diaz had gathered the batarian's weapons and secure them, as protocol demanded. Ed was impressed by the quarian's omnitools, they look like a holographic computer and according to their 'alien allies' as a melee weapon. With the help of Karana and the Cervantes computer the quarians began their attempt to determine the coordinates of the batarian's ship.

XXXXX

A disgusting smell came through Missuro's nostrils as his body began to wake up, his vision was blurry at first but very quickly it began to clear up. He found himself up against a metal wall inside some unknown room. The space was small no more than six meters for six meters with four metal bulkheads in three sides and a solid door in the third, it was empty except for three bodies in fetal positions laying in the ground; he turned his head to the right to see Luna Da Silva still unconscious, her protective suit and helmed removed, her hands tied behind her back and her ankles tied together, wrath and fear filled him, now he remembered:

Three dozen four eyes aliens accompanied by a group of reptilian monster dogs attacked them, they almost got the jump on him but he and private Norvos (his fellow marine) manage to hunker down on the ship before they started firing on them.

Behind the ruined bulkhead, Lt. Su Kwon and Pvt. Norvos took cover and returned fire. Thankfully luck was on their side, the four eye freaks had the wind against them, with the cold breeze blowing in their faces they were not able to aim correctly. Meanwhile the two human soldiers with their Commonwealth's issued M-5 Falcon assault rifles had a defensive position. After the situation became clear, Missuro gave Luna his auxiliary pistol and ordered her to hide with Sura in the ship as they held the enemy back. Taking cover and aiming carefully with his advance scope, the two marines managed to take down at least a dozen four eye bastards before the tide turned against them.

Situation turned grim when the aliens unleashed their six monster hounds against them, primal instinct took hold and they redirected their fire to the hounds, the last one to fall was only two meters from sinking its teeth on them, however the time and ammunition spend on the hounds was time the four eyes freaks had to repositioned themselves and flanked them. With enemy fire coming from every direction, the two marines were left unable to counter attack.

Then with a solid clank a round metallic object pass through the hole, bounced at the bulkhead and landed on the floor. Survival instinct took hold once again and Lt. Su Kwon and Pvt. Norvos jumped up from their kneeling positions. 'Grenade!' Missuro screamed before they fled from the site.

In the mere seconds that passed as they ran like two bats out of hell, all that Missuro Su Kwon could think was: _Why the hell I did not get the Telekinesis plasmid?_

Then the sound of an explosion cracked through their eardrums, and the force of the bomb catapulted Missuro against the nearby bulkhead. As his helmed was smashed against the metal with a sharpening pain in his head, a ringing sound drilled through his skull, before everything went black.

XXXXX

Missuro tried to moved only to find his bloody feeling constricted; he looked down to see a metal wire bounding his arms together, with his hands tightly bound together behind his back, with the metal wire mercilessly cutting through his skin. He could also see his feet bound together with wire, he began to struggle only to immediately give up. They have taken his suit as well, he was only wearing the uniform he use underneath his extreme environment suit.

A sound came from his side, he turned his head to his left to see the quarian Sura'Leth in the floor also with her arms and legs bounded together. Remembering his training he started to assess the situation:

1\. Pvt. Norvos is not here, so he is either dead or manage to escape. _I just hope is the second._

2\. We must be in those four eyes bastards ship, they might want to interrogate us. _I pray for the Great Chain of Endeavor that we may still be on the planet._

3\. If no one else is here, it may be possible that the Kalypso is still in orbit, and that the crew is searching for us.

4\. We might be able to escape, hopefully this xenos may have taken our weapons and equipment but they do not know about mine and Luna's plasmids powers, yet.

With struggle he manage to take a kneeling position, any attempt to free his hands resulted in the wire cutting even deeper into the skin with blood dripping like sweat from his wrists. As he looked to his left to the quarian girl apparently unconscious, no one could tell if her eyes were opened because of the visor, he took into account he needed answers.

'Hey, wake up' he shouted first to Sura then Luna. As expected they did not reacted immediately, but after a few moments Luna opened her eyes and attempted to stand while Sura simply squirm in the ground trying to free herself from her bounds.

'Careful, do not struggle too hard or you could get hurt' Missuro said to both of them.

'Where are we?' Luna asked, immediately turning from confusion to dread.

'I would say, we are on those four eyes alien's ship' he answered.

'Ohh, Keelah, we are onboard a batarian's slavers ship' Sura intervened sounding distressed.

'Batarian slavers?' both Missuro and Luna asked, with both disgust and fear on their voices. It was fortunate that they had not removed their translation devices.

'Yes, the Batarian Hegemony are a client species of the Citadel, however they had never bound to Citadel's law regarding the prohibition of slavery' she said, quickly trying to explain. 'This must be the same ship which shoot us down'

'You were shoot down? I see you forgot to tell us that.' Missuro sharply intervened, Sura even with her features hidden by her helmed looked guilty and ashamed.

'Okay, that doesn't matter now, what matters is how are we gonna get out of here?' Luna added. 'I have absolutely no interest in becoming an alien's slave'

'Me neither' Sura intervened. 'What about the rest of my crew? And the rest of your people?'

'If we haven't left this frozen wasteland yet, they must be looking for us' Missuro cut in sharply.

The limits of his training had become significantly clear. He was in uncharted territory, he was a prisoner in an alien ship. What if this aliens were far more advance than they were? What would happened if they were to attack the Kalypso and gathered Intel on the Commonwealth. Was humanity ready for a war against an alien species? Not to mention that this aliens were definitely the scum of the galaxy. Slavers? In the middle in the twentieth second century? Why the hell, do you need slaves? It is much cheaper to just produce a synthetic workforce. Perhaps they are scare of the threat of an AI rebellion, just like the quarians had learned the hard way about the dangers of artificial intelligence.

Luna adopted a kneeling position and began to check her bindings, those aliens had taken her protection suit, tools and data-wrist. Metal wire had been tightly put together around her wrists and ankles. It was clear she won't be able to force her way out of them, but maybe she could free herself by another way.

Taking a deep breath, she focused her mind on her bindings, picturing them in her mind, the knots, the wires, the sharp ends. Then a yellow glow began traveling through her hands covering her bindings. Even with her eyes close, Luna could picture the entire amount of knots and binds in her head like if she was untying her shoe laces. As her telekinesis plasmid began bending the wires, her skin softly celebrate as the pressure on her muscles continue to descend. When her fingers finally manage to stretch and her arms were no longer so tie together, she took another deep breath and began channeling the remaining EVE on her bloodstream to break through the last knots.

 _Thank god I choose Telekinesis rather than Electro Bolt_. She thought, so much time had happened since the recombination process that Luna Da Silva had come to consider her plasmid powers as part of her.

Finally the last knot was loosen and with a strong pull from both of her arms she broke her bindings. Both Missuro and Sura looked at her in shock, the quarian kept staring at Luna as she began to untie her legs as well, while Missuro focused on the door, expecting an army of guards to start coming through, but after a few moments of nothing happening he turned back to the only other human in the room who had just finished breaking the bindings on her legs.

'Quick! Help me, before any of those four eyes bastards come in' Missuro Su Kwon ordered, in a hush tone.

Luna obeyed and after a few minutes of working manage to undo his bindings. Missuro headed for the door pressing his back on the wall in order to ambush any incoming enemy. Meanwhile Luna proceeded to free the quarian girl, but she stopped when Missuro gave her a sharp look, that meant 'are you crazy?'

Luna look between him and Sura, while the quarian stood in place looking confuse, finally Luna narrow her eyes and continue freeing the girl, Missuro made no protest, they had no time for that.

'Thank you, thank you' the girl muttered as Luna cut her binds, when the both of them stood up, they joined Missuro next to the door and flatten themselves against the wall.

'So what is the plan?' asked Luna in a surprisingly relaxed tone.

'Wait until they come in and ambush them, then take their weapons, recovered our gear and contact the Kalypso' Missuro responded.

'There may be another way' Sura'Leth nar Rayya interjected, as she check something in her arm, Missuro was surprised upon seeing an holographic display appeared around the quarian's arm, while Luna had already seen the omni-tool working to recover the files from the quarian's ship and scanning damage. 'Yes! Those batarian bosh'tet didn't disable my omni-tool. I bet they didn't thought we would have been able to free ourselves of the bindings.'

Soon after Luna managed to open the access panel in the right side of the door Sura began hacking the firewalls of the door's system, holograms danced around the omni-tool while rain after rain of alien letters appeared in succession describing unimaginable programing.

Finally after a sounded beep, the hologram on the center of the door turned green.

 _Ha, remarkable it seems some color code uses are not so unique to humans. Though Missuro_

He pressed his ear against the metal door attempting to hear anything behind it, after no more than a minute, Missuro was sure despite the thickness of the door that nothing stood on the other side. Signaling the quarian to open it, he move from the threshold and assumed a defensive stance, with his left foot in front and his outstretch palms channeling his Incinerate, ready to engage any incoming enemy; Luna doing the same ready to use her Telekinesis.

A blow of relief came from Luna when the door opened and nothing other than a long corridor stood in front of them. Signaling both women to follow him, Missuro walked forward with Luna and Sura following him, as they reached an intersection of corridors, he took covered in one of the sides and quickly eye every side, before turning to Sura for a second.

'Sura, do you know anything of this ships? What do you suggest we do?' he asked to the shock of both the quarian and Luna.

'I don't know' she made a pause sounding unsure. 'If this is the same ship that attacked us, then this is a batarian frigate, so the crew must not be very large, perhaps 40-50 crewmembers. Also if they have your gear and both yours and their weapons they must have been storage in an armory as the cargo bay…' stuttered Sura, before pausing for a second. 'Must be reserved for their preys: slaves'

Both Luna and Missuro look each other and narrow their eyes in disgust and determination. 'Well, none of us shall become a slave. THAT I CAN GUARANTEE' he said putting an emphasis on those last words.

Both women nodded their heads.

 _I'll be damned, yet another universal common point between alien cultures_

XXXXX

Back in orbit, the bridge of the Kalypso was a veritable hive of activity. Only a few hours had passed since the capture of Lieutenants Su Kwon and Da Silva; and the quarian girl however the initial shock of the situation below had vanished. The crew was still eager and determine to recover their missing officer and avenge their comrade in arms Private Mikael Norvos who had died in the fight against the four eyes aliens.

Some of the uncertainty and fear for the alien's capabilities was reduced when the scientific team finished examining the corpses, gear, and weapons of the aliens. The excitement for new developments in genetics or technology that could emerge from the analysis of the aliens and their equipment was turn into dust as soon the studies were completed. The batarians biology did not contain any useful gene ingredient for new gene mods or plasmids, and believe it or not: their armors, weapons and gear were quite primitive in comparison to the human technology.

In the center of the CIC Captain Han, Commander Sinclair and Daon'Nuzzra were focused on the hologram of the surface as their continue scans, and the examination of the batarian's communicators had manage to pin point the location of the batarian ship.

The four marine escort standing behind Daon was a clear sign that the trust in him was far from absolute, the quarian officer however understood the human's reasons and for the moment he was only focused on recovering his people and theirs.

A deck officer approached the captain and whispered something in his ear. The captain left the bridge and went into the briefing room.

A few minutes later he returned to control room with a sharp look on his face, his eyes narrow in determination.

'Captain has the conn' he announced. 'Karana, give a location now!' in response the hologram appeared in the middle of the holographic board as a few inches figure.

'We almost have location captain, the winds on the surface have made our tracking and scanning difficult, however I believe they are also the reason while the batarian have not engage their engines and leave the planet yet. They are still in the surface.' After that the hologram vanished, while the captain's grip on the table tighten, showing his frustration.

Finally Karana's hologram appeared once again and announced the location of the enemy ship, as an area of the planet was zoomed and enhanced before being marked by a red triangle, indicating the location of the enemy and objective. After a few seconds of pause, the captain pressed a button in the board, turning on the intercom, his voice reaching every man and woman on the Kalypso.

'Okay, ladies and gentlemen this is it!' The Captain spoke. 'If the day before any of you had told me that we will be meeting an alien species today, much less two, I would have ordered a psychiatric evaluation for that person.' A few laughs came from the bridge crew. 'But we are here now, this a historic moment not only for us and the Commonwealth but for all of mankind. After reaching the stars and searching for the unknown, we have just met a few new friends' he said looking back to Daon. 'And some enemies, this batarians are a group of pirates and slavers, the scum of the galaxy! They assaulted our team, killed one of our soldiers and kidnapped two of our people' he allowed a moment of pause, for the crew to process this information. 'We are the new kids in the block, none of this batarians know of what humans are made of! I say we show them!' a few cheers came from the operators. 'A strike force will be assemble at once, we will rescue our people and any prisoners this bastards have, and we will show them that humans protect our own!' New cheers came from all around the bridge. The captain rose his voice and finished his speech. 'There are no gods, there are no kings, Terra Aeternum!'

'TERRA AETERNUM!' was shouted all around the ship.

'Commander Sinclair you shall be in charge of the operation' he ordered his first officer.

'Yes sir!' she answered as she saluted him.

'Gather up, the praetorian corps and assemble a team of marines, be ready for a direct strike' she merely nodded. But before she left the bridge the captain rose a hand, stopping her in her tracks, then he looked at Daon'Nuzzra, the quarian flinched for moment under the captain's gaze, but immediately adopted a more resolved stance.

'Captain Han, with your permission, I would like to be part of this operation' the quarian asked. Commander Sinclair gave the captain a questioning look.

'I will have to oppose to that Captain' Commander Sinclair sharply protested, avoiding the quarian's gaze. 'Having an unarmed civilian in the battlefield is never good'

'I am a Migrant Fleet Marine I can look after myself; one of my people was also taken; and this batarians were the ones who shoot down my ship. I have plenty of reasons to take down those slavers bosh'tets' he proudly said.

The captain and the XO exchange looks.

'Very well, you will accompany the assault group' the captain ordered, then he turned back to his first officer. 'Commander you will provide mister Nuzzra with one of our weapons and two marines to act as his escort'

'Understood, Captain' she responded, then she turned to Daon. 'Follow me, mister Nuzzra.' Daon simply nodded.

Both of them walked outside the bridge and into an elevator, after reaching one of the lower decks they walked through the hallway before reaching the cargo bay. As soon as Daon glimpsed the full extent of the cargo bay with the second Orion-Class corvette hanging from the module coupling in the celling, his heart skipped a beat. In the platform was standing a whole platoon of 40 assault marines in combat extreme environment armor, next to them was a group of a dozen 3 meter tall exo-suits with remarkable features.

 _Those must be the so call praetorian heavy infantry._

As soon as he and Commander Sinclair reached the platform, the whole platoon stood in line and salute her.

'Soldiers is time for combat, we found the location of the batarian ship, the winds are too strong to descend with a ship, but our proximity and location had allow us to aim a rift portal right next to the enemy.' she began her voice strong, looking to every soldier. 'The praetorian group shall go first, we must take control of the ship, secure any technology and information from it, and rescue our crewmates.' He made a pause allowing her orders to sink in.

'Well is time to bring our people back home!' he shouted.

Signaling two soldiers to act as his escort, Commander Sinclair took a small pistol and handed it to Daon'Nuzzra. The quarian was actually surprised by the elegancy of the weapon and the simple design, after showing her that he knew how to handle a gun, she ordered to assume a place in the formation.

After that, she took her position in the frontline of the group, before a dozen individuals approached the praetorian suits. The soldiers were wearing some kind of bio suit, not to dissimilar than a wetsuit, in an almost perfect synchrony they climbed on the heavy exo-armors and an instant later, like an armor with its own intelligence the praetorian suits tissue was overlay upon their users. Hiding their human operator inside, like if they were nothing more than iron golems they stood up with each of their steps making a heavy thump on the metallic floor. Approaching a group of boxes each of those huge super marines took an enormous gun, so big than no normal human being could even lift it of the ground, with their weapons on hand the new full armor golems took their place at the center of the group.

'They are Praetorians Rosie armors, a multi-purpose advance exo-suit designed for users working on extreme environment conditions such as in the void, or hostile planets. They can also be used in war, although they are few praetorian armors exclusively designed for combat' one of the soldiers said to Daon.

Moments later, the same contraption Daon had seen in the Cervantes was deployed and a rift portal appeared in the middle of the cargo bay, allowing them to glimpse the frozen surface of Kaldir.

'With me, let's go' Commander Isabel Sinclair said as he led the group into the portal, Daon hesitated for a few moments then follow then as well.

After passing through the rift, the cold winds of Kaldir covered the group, making visibility difficult, however their helmet's HUD mark their objective in front of them. After a couple of minutes of walking through the snow, the shape of the alien frigate appeared in front of them.

A group of batarians were standing outside the ship, attempting to repair the damage in one of their subsystem on the left wing, as soon as they saw the large group coming their way they duck behind covered, grabbed their weapons and call for help.

Using the translator program provided by the quarians, Commander Sinclair addressed the alien ship.

'Batarian ship, this is Commander Isabel Sinclair of the Human Commonwealth's navy. You have attacked us unprovoked, killed one of our own, and taken two of our people prisoner. We have your cripple ship surrounded and a cruiser in orbit, returned our people and surrender. No one else has to die, today.' She said to his wrist communicator.

'Human?' a deep rusty voice came through the communicator. 'So that is the name of your species? Ummm. I am Captain Ghursk of the Master's Whip, it was your people attacked us by helping those quarians suit rats. It is you who will be surrendering when we finish with your forces. There are many slaves merchants who will pay anything for a newly discovered specimen of a previously unknown species such as your people.' He made a pause. 'I believe I will keep one of your females, your kind reminds me a lot of the Asari.'

For a moment Commander Isabel Sinclair said nothing looking to her soldiers and the only non-human in the group.

'Very well' he said to her communicator, before addressing the platoon. 'TAKE NO PRISONERS, KILL THEM ALL'

'Yes ma'am' the soldiers answered.

The batarians assembled a defensive line with a dozen soldiers taking cover in front of the ship, and many more descending from the ramp. The human marines advanced by crouching and taking cover behind ice formations, while the praetorians simply advanced with their barriers and armors shrugging off enemy fire like if it was rain, and their heavy mass accelerator weapons piercing through the batarian's barriers like paper.

The true complication came when the ship's defensive cannons began firing against them, with one heavy round piercing through one of the praetorian's barriers and producing damage on the armor's shoulder. However a group of combat engineers moved forward and with their Hacking Tools fire Hack Darts on the cannons, hitting them with an electro shock pulse, before hacking the weapons and the ship's computers.

Karana's connection to the enemy ship's computers allowed her to quickly invade their systems. No matter how advance your computers were, a true AI was able to cut through any firewall in place accessing data; system's controls; crew manifest and support equipment.

The batarians attempted to regain the upper hand by releasing half dozen wolf like creatures that according to the codex were called Varren, however four of those monsters instantly fell down to the Commonwealth marine's heavy fire, while the last two met their end on melee combat. One of the front line praetorian soldiers moving at an incredible speed by his size deployed his sword bayonet and beheaded one of the varren as it was about to pounce on him. The last varren jumped into another praetorian attempting to devour him, but the iron golem with his incredible reflexes caught the beast in mid-air by the neck and squeeze it until the varren move no longer.

XXXXX

When the alarm was activated and all of the batarians proceeded outside to defend the ship, Missuro, Luna and Sura were lucky enough to avoid detection by hiding behind a crate in their route to the armory, where their gear and weapons must have been storage.

With Luna forcing the terminal open with her Telekinesis enhanced strength, Sura proceeded to hack the door while Missuro kept watch for any incoming enemies. Finally the secure door was open revealing inside two other alien beings, different for the batarians or quarians.

This creatures look reptilian, with bright red eyes, sharp needle like teeth and three holes like ridges in their foreheads. Luna's face went as white as milk upon seeing this monsters that made the batarians or the splicers look not so different than humans, fear and disgust filled her.

The two aliens seemingly smiled upon seeing a new prey in front of them and pounce at the group.

With fear, anger and EVE running through her veins Luna use the full of her Telekinesis plasmid powers, her whole body shine with a yellow aura and in an instant her hands throw a wave of kinetic energy forward and catapulted both aliens to the wall with as solid thud.

As Missuro rushed past Luna and Sura attempting to use himself as a shield, Luna collapsed into the floor exhausted and tired for the overextend use of her plasmids powers. Both of the savage aliens seem to be KO after the impressive push.

'Wow, amazing, I have never seen biotic powers like that' the quarian muttered.

Luna didn't corrected her, she was too tired to explain now. From the ground she could see that the armory storage many weapons and gear, in one shelf were hers and Missuro's XE suits and one standard Commonwealth's assault rifle.

'Those Vorcha are down' Sura added, looking relieved.

'Vorcha?' Missuro asked.

'They are a race of aggressive short life individuals, they are quite primitive and have low intelligence but they are very resilient and adaptable, so they are often use as cannon-fodder by criminal organizations like the batarian pirates' she made a pause. 'But make no mistake, they are completely ruthless, in some cases much more so than the batarians or krogan.'

'I see' Missuro answered, as he approach the two aliens.

After checking the state of the vorcha guards, Missuro proceeded to grab his riffle and examining for a few moments before also grabbing his XE suit and taking a new ammunition clip from one of the pockets. After a few seconds of hesitation, he aimed his riffle at the two unconscious aliens on the floor, and pulled the trigger, killing one and then the other.

Luna and Sura gave him glare of shock after his execution of the vorcha, yet he look at them, with a determined look. 'Better be safe than sorry, Luna put on your XE suit' he ordered before turning to Sura and handing her a batarian weapon. 'Please tell me you know how to use a gun?'

She hesitated for a moment before answering and taking the gun. 'We have some minor training in the Flotilla before departing for the pilgrimage in order to defend ourselves.' She tested the gun's weight and toy with the ammunition clip before trying its aim and her firing stance.

Taking of the three of them by surprise, one of the vorcha's communicator began to cough up some indecipherable language, Sura however could understood it.

'Did you hear it? Your people are here to rescue us' she said exited, to the confuse Missuro and Luna. 'Oh sorry, you don't have the batarian translation matrix, yet' she said before activating her omni-tool and typing some code, she introduce new programing in their translators.

'We have to leave now, those iron krogans the humans brought with them are crushing us.' A batarian said, desperation clear in his voice. 'Prep the ship to take off, NOW'

Missuro, Luna and Sura exchange looks.

'We have to prevent this ship from leaving' Missuro ordered. 'Time to meet the leader of this pirates' he said as he took his communicator from the XE suit.

'Kalypso, this is Lieutenant Su Kwon. Can you hear me?' he asked to his communicator, not a second later Karana's hologram appeared in the device.

'Lieutenant Su Kwon, I am so glad to hear your voice' the AI remarked, with concern and happiness in her voice, however her hologram was immediately replaced by the one of Captain Han.

'Lieutenant, I share Karana's relief to hear that you are still alive, but let's get to the point. What is your status? What is the status of Lieutenant Da Silva and the other quarian?' the captain asked.

'They are both okay and they are with me, we manage to escape and recover our gear and weapons. What are your orders?' he responded in determined voice.

'Karana has just been able to hacked through the batarian's ship system and prevented them from leaving. The assault group is ready to punch through and capture the ship, we are transmitting a 3D map of the ship. You can either hunker down and await rescue or clear the way for our forces to enter the ship by attacking the enemy in the main access at the cargo bay' the captain suggested.

Missuro thought for a moment then he smile and look back to Luna who simply nodded.

'Tell our forces I will meet them at the entrance' he answered with a predatory smile on his face.

Missuro and Luna, decided they did not have time to put on their XE suits, but they did grabbed the shield module from their suits and attached them to their uniforms to provide themselves with an small but durable kinetic barrier.

Following the holographic map they reached the cargo bay without encountering any enemies, up in the elevated passage in which they stood they could see a small group of five batarians taking defensive positions in front of the ramp.

'When I give the order, hit them with everything you got' Missuro instructed to the two women, both of them nodded in agreement.

Summoning the EVE in her bloodstream, a bright flame appeared in Missuro's left hand and not an instant later the flame was thrown into one of the batarians group setting them ablaze.

'NOW!' He shouted.

Despite the fact that Sura hesitated for a moment after seeing the human male creating a huge flame out of the tip of his fingers, she also joined in the shooting taking the whole group down in mere seconds and ending the misery of the burning batarians.

'Assault group you are all clear, I repeat you are all clear' he said through his communicator.

A few moments later a whole group of human marines led by three praetorian commandos climbed the ramp and entered in the ship, securing the place.

'All clear' one of them said, the order was repeated by the rest as they finished their recon of the room.

Commander Isabel Sinclair soon follow them accompanied by the quarian Daon'Nuzzra and half dozen more marines. Luna, Missuro and Sura climbed down and reunited with the team, Daon visibly relaxed upon seeing Sura alive and unharmed.

'1° Squad secure this room; 2° squad Proceed to secure the engine room; 3° squad recon the ship for any other occupant; 4° squad and Liutenant Su Kwon with me, time to secure the bridge' he ordered the group, all of them nodded.

Missuro joined with the 4° squad and Commander Sinclair. In the bridge according to Karana who was scanning the interior of the ship through the sensors and communications, the batarian captain had killed two of his own crewman for suggesting that they should surrender, but the ruthless batarian refused to give up without a fight. Commander Sinclair's Electro Bolt was even faster than her shooting, the Master's Whip's captain was paralyzed before being gunned down by the assault team. The rest of the ship's areas fell down quickly.

XXXXX

After checking the boxes in the cargo bay, the marine group found that the largest container was in fact a cage filled with a dozen unconscious aliens that according to the quarians were asari, in a drug induce coma. The resemblance between asari and humans left the marines both astonished and unnerved. Whatever semblance of compassion or regret was for the destruction of the batarian pirate group instantly fade away replaced by disgust upon discovering that those asari were to be sold as sexual slaves in the batarian hegemony.

As the marines took a few of the asari to the frigate's medical bay to be treated, Missuro and Luna made their reports and send them to the captain, who in turn presented his own report to the Commonwealth's high command.

After a few hours of work, repairing the batarian frigate to be taken as a prize and salvaging any usable cargo, Captain Han ordered his first officer to return to the Kalypso. A few minutes later a new rift portal open up next to the batarian frigate and the captain alongside Doctor Sullivan came through, to speak with the four quarians.

'Daon'Nuzzra, I would like to thank you and your group, both in the name of my crew and the Human Commonwealth, for your aid in rescuing Liutenants Su Kwon and Da Silva and avenging the death of Private Norvos.'

'It is us who should be thanking you and your crew Captain Han for your help both in the crash site as in the rescue of Sura'Leth. Also the galaxy as a whole should be thanking you for your role in taking down this gang of pirates' the captain's face turned sour upon hearing those last words, to the surprise of the quarians.

'Well, I also came to tell you that I have sent all the files extracted both from your ship and from the slavers ship, the Commonwealth's high command has decided that humanity is not yet ready to engage with the full galactic community' he made a pause. 'Our government and species are still very new to the concept of others spacefaring sentient species. Humanity must not revealed itself to the greater galactic community yet, so I am afraid this is where we part ways'

'Beg your pardon. You are leaving us here?!' Daon asked clearly distraught. 'We will die, without a ship and supplies…' he was about to continue when the captain smile and rose his hand asking for him to stop.

'Of course not, I only meant that we will be taken separate routes as we leave this planet. Dr. Culpepper has told me that your young ones are require to undertake a Pilgrimage outside the fleet in order to pass into full adulthood, in which the young one cannot return to the flotilla until they have found something of value to bring back' the four of them nodded. 'Well I believe after being attacked by pirates and losing a ship you had a certainly rough start. However you were successful, you have your gift right there' he said as he pointed to the batarian frigate, the four quarians look each other in shock.

'You are leaving us the pirate frigate? Why don't you bring it back to your people? Even if the ship is primitive by your standards, it is filled with usable components' this time it was Kael'Traen who asked.

'That ship is primitive, it is filled with the bodies of dead batarians and a very sick group of asari, my people has already went through the ship attempting to find any piece of valuable technology and equipment that we did not get from your crashed ship. What I propose is an exchange: you allow us to keep every component of your crashed vessel and maintain the existence of the Human Commonwealth from other races that may see us as easy picking as a secret, in exchange you can keep that ship, after all you are certainly gonna give it a better use than those pirates, it will be the gift of your pilgrimage to return to your fleet' The quarains exchange looks once more. 'Also please return those poor asari women back to their homes where they could get some help'

'We will, Captain, thanks for everything' he answered confidence in his voice. 'The existence of the Human Commonwealth shall not be revealed by any of us. Good journey Captain Han. keelah se'lai'

After a few short goodbyes between the first contact crew and the four quarians, the destroyer CSV Kalypso and the renamed frigate took different headings. Yet it was not to be the last time, humans and quarians were to establish friendship or fight side by side.

 **CODEX:**

 **M-5 Falcon assault rifle: The standard mass accelerator rifle for the Commonwealth's Marine Corps. A common, versatile, military-grade assault rifle. Accurate with a scope and when fired in short bursts, and deadly when fired on full auto. The Falcon is effective at penetrating shields, armor, and biotic barriers.**

 **Gene-Mods: Many citizens in the Commonwealth subject themselves to gene-mod therapy in order to improve their health, physical condition and mental capabilities. However in order to engage in ADAM recombination, those candidates must submit themselves to physiological, health and condition tests in order to check their suitability for gene-mod therapy. Overuse or incompatibility with gene-mods will result in the subject either rejecting the gene-mod or becoming what is known as a splicer.**

 **Plasmids: Plasmids are special serums made from processed ADAM that introduce modified stem cells into the body, allowing for genetic modification and mutation, giving the user what some might call "super powers". Active Plasmids require EVE for use, while passive Plasmids, called Gene Tonics, provide an effect merely by being equipped. Plasmids are powerful, but excessive use of them leads to physical and mental addiction and instability.**

 **PDC ion laser defense system: Based on the ion lasers develop by Minerva's den tech, the point defense laser system is conceived as a defensive grid on a ship against missiles or enemy fighters.**

 **Praetorian armors: Advance Bio Augmented suits designed to interact with a user genetics and technological enhancements to allow feats like incredible strength, stamina, resistance and speed. The most common use of the praetorian suits is to serve for workers in extreme environments, while some programs to develop suits exclusively for combat had been called upon.**

 **Some people calls the praetorian corps as the "space marines" despite only the fact that Bouncer and Rosie armors were originally designed for maintenance and construction operations.**

 **Splicers: Individuals who after subjecting themselves to gene-mod abuse had lost most of their rational thinking; suffered deformities as a result of an unstable genome; and according to some lost most of their humanity.**

 **AI development: Based on the development of the Thinker, every human AI is to be based upon a human core personality and drives. Most fully sentient AIs serve on board starships or bases, while some low level AI are of common use as personal assistants not different than a regular VI.**

 **Hacking Tools: A remote hacking device issued to combat engineers**

 **Hacking Darts: A container filled with nano machines and medium range communicator design to be fire upon nearby machinery and through contact with an AI hack any system.**


	4. Chapter 3: We are the Commonwealth

**Chapter 3: We are the Commonwealth**

 **Sorry for the delay but my computer was busted and I had to leave it with the technician; also I was investigating a few interesting points to develop, I was not sure if I should go through this plot line, but one of the reasons Crossovers exists is to fully exploit the potential of the characters and worlds, so I decided to dig through the worlds of Mass Effect and Bioshock to see what further developments will make the Systems Commonwealth the HFY faction everyone dreams of. Check the Prologue I had been adding some changes.**

 **Artyom-Dreizehn: For the record, imagine the praetorian armor like a mix between the Crysis's nanosuit and Starcraft's marine armor. The Praetorian armor is living bio-synthetic tissue with armor and mechanic components. Just wait for the next codex, but I will let you know the Bouncer and Rosie armors are for mining, lifting, construction, etc; while other models like the Rumbler are for combat exclusively. Most are three meters tall but there are a few super-praetorians mechs like the Songbird armor.**

 **Johng23: As I said, English is not my first language, if anyone wants to be my beta. Please volunteer.**

 **Chinerpeton: Yes, I know according to studies, human population by 2100 should be around 11.2 billion, however the interest of the Commonwealth is to develop human civilization as fast as possible, colonies have an amazing birth rate with families having four or five children and receiving tax evasion in exchange, and with ADAM treatments life expectancy is of 180 years. Nevertheless you are right I have made some changes to the Prologue, check it if you want to.**

 **Guest: Don't worry, in one point the dark side of humanity shall rise. We all know that terrible situations force people to embrace the best and worst of themselves and sometimes they are both the same.**

 **Guest: Please, the quarians just gave them all the info of the codex and Citadel, and she did not revealed any technology or state secret, just common known information.**

 **The armed forces: Thanks**

 **WBXtreme234: Thanks, and sure**

 **FanGirl: Thanks**

 **CODEX:**

 **The Systems Commonwealth (2109 CE):** On July 11th 2054 the Systems Commonwealth was formally proclaimed as the first step towards a truly unified human government and an interstellar society. Faced with the realities of establishing an interstellar dominion and all the opportunities and dangers that presented, the Commonwealth was conceived as the main political body to defend and represent humanity.

The Commonwealth's economy and population are continuously growing as a result of the versatile nature of the ever expanding Rift Gate Network that connects the hundreds of outpost and mining stations; and dozens of colonies established. While the Mass Effect Relay Network is critical to the expansion and control of the Commonwealth's territory, it is the Rift Gate Network that allows for systems not bound by the mass effect relays to be survey, colonized, terraform or exploited.

One of the most striking aspects of the Commonwealth society and perhaps the greatest trait inherited from the Rapturian Society is the implementation of a tiered citizen structure regarding the use of genetic or synthetic augmentations: Tests of intelligence, health and endurance as well as complete fulfillment of certain duties (education, service, and work) grants every citizen limited access to gene-mods and synthetic augs, this system serves not only to avoid the proliferation of ADAM missuses, but also as an effective tool to combat wastefulness or corruption. While advances in technology and production mean that even the lowest tier citizens can enjoy confortable and productive lives, this system also serves to promote duty to the state and responsibility to human society as whole.

As human society evolves into a galactic civilization and most of the former religious and national sentiments had begun to disappear, especially in the oldest colonies, a new group of beliefs had settle on their place. The constant pursuit of freedom, happiness, knowledge and wealth are only match in the hearts and minds of most citizens of the Commonwealth for the value of individual and collective will; and by a new devotion for the "sanctity" of Mother Earth as the core and origin of mankind. This new values had taken shape most clearly in a motto unofficially adopted by the military and the most radical elements of human society, a war cry that shows that as humanity prepares to embark in the greatest journey in its history, it marches forward united in purpose, determined to claim a place among the stars: There are no Gods, There are no Kings, Terra Aeternum.

 **Planets of the System Commonwealth (2109 CE):** While essentially a one world government, the original executive council of the Commonwealth was formed by the most powerful nations of Earth, most of which had their own agendas and visions of the new space dominion of mankind. USA, Russia, China, UK, France, Rapture, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Germany, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, South Africa, Israel, Nigeria and Pakistan, under the oversight of the Commonwealth's parliament, were determined to expand their economies, cultural values and governments into the extra solar colonies, yet none of them could do it alone. Also with the threat of either a massive stellar civil war or a hostile alien power, the military just like most areas of research and development are a joint cooperative effort.

Hundreds of worlds have been surveyed, charted and later claimed first by the Commonwealth's colonization authority and military and then claimed or colonized by one or various nations, as decades pass many of this worlds had begun to request greater autonomy from the Commonwealth as the quick expansion of humanity has enabled most of its citizens to decide their own paths, while for the first time in history most of humanity no longer lives in Earth or in the Sol System but rather in the distant stars.

CORE WORLDS:

-Earth: Capital and home of Mankind, reaching a new golden age, as most concerns regarding poverty, contamination or overpopulation have been solved in a considerable measure. It has a population of 7,5 billion people.

-Mars: While Mars has a very weak magnetic core so the development of an atmosphere is almost impossible several terraforming devices have stabilized living areas of the planet were the air is breathable and plant life has begun to grow. The only true settlement of Mars is the City of Delfos constructed over the location of the Prothean archives.

-Chiron (Alpha Centaury): Earth's first extra solar colony, carrying a population of almost 1,2 billion inhabitants is a planet with a mass almost twice as Earth and a gravity approximately of 1,5 G. Most of its inhabitants came from the three main sponsors of the colonization effort: Rapture, the USA and The People's Republic of China.

-Praxis: An almost uninhabitable world with a gravitational force three times the one of Earth, freezing cold weather even in the equatorial area and a heavy atmospheric pressure with radiation and abundance of nitrogen. All of these traits would have made this planet a poor prospect for colonization if it wasn't for the abundance of Element Zero and heavy metals deposits. Decades of colonization and exploitation had turned Praxis into a heavy industrial center for the Commonwealth. Yet the most remarkable trait of Praxis is its population: 200 million people were brought into the planet by the promises of wealth and the opportunity for a new start were force to subject themselves to extensive ADAM enhancement mods in order to force adaption to the toxic atmosphere, high gravity and radiation storms. Now after almost three generations, the praxians as they call themselves are considered by many as a new species of super humans; harden by the adverse conditions of their home, and the most vocal colony vouching for independence.

-Tartarus System - Hades: Headquarters of the Commonwealth fleet, main docks and industrial center.

-Arcadia: Established by the joint efforts of the European Union and Rapture investors, Arcadia is the bread basket of the central colonies, a garden world with a vast fertile land and almost 120 million inhabitants.

-Columbia: Established by the joint efforts of the US and Great Britain it is one of the most develop colonies, it contains some of the best learning centers in human space and perhaps the galaxy. Its capital Londinium is considered "the jewel of the outer colonies". It has a population of almost 105 million.

OTHER MAIN COLONIES or POTENCIAL PLANETS:

-Eden Prime: One of the most successful colonies, population 49 millions

-Terra Nova: Population 28 millions

-Amanecer: Established as the first joint effort by the South American countries to expand their presence into space and prove their worth to the rest of Earth's nations Amanecer is a vast humid-garden world with a binary star, covered in endless thick green jungles. Most colonies and cities have been built near the coast or in deserted areas as to prevent any alteration in the planet's environment. It is the site of development for some of the most important health and gene therapy programs in the Commonwealth.

-Sinhon: One of the first and most populated colonies in the Commonwealth, a garden world containing a population of 800 million most of Chinese-South Asia origin and others coming from India and Pakistan. While it could be considered a core world of the Commonwealth, unfortunately it is a planet plagued by racial, ethnic and religious conflicts, and one with a very impoverish population, a clear example of how some of Earth and humanity's oldest problems had followed them into the stars.

-Shambala: A garden world with vast mountain ranges and valleys, the abundance of diverse ecosystems and environments have made this planet one of the most suitable sites for troops training and field tests. Many military exercises and simulations were held in this world by the Commonwealth's navy.

-Karnak: Desert world, rich in mineral deposits; several mining post have been established there.

-Persephone: A frozen world, site of several black sites and the central military prison of the Commonwealth's navy.

 **2109 – two months ago – New Sparta; planet of Praxis:**

The sweet of her brow had already reach her eyes filling them with a small tickling and the bow staff of Diego had left a purple mark in her shoulder.

 _I could have avoided that, yet I didn't_

'Good fight Masha, it seems I am improving.' Diego Cruz, a boy almost fifteen years old and one of her closest friends told her with a warm smile on his face.

'It was a good fight, and you are right, you are getting better Diego' she answered as she smirked devilishly, and adopted a defiant stance. 'But next time, I will not make it so easy for you.'

Diego turned pale for a second. _Perhaps I shouldn't have left him win, well there is always next time._

As she turned to leave her data wrist flare for a moment, she looked into it, apparently so Professor Rosembaun had ordered her to go to his office at once. That was never a good sign, the last thing she wanted right now or anytime was to have Professor Rosenbaun poking his needles into her body, checking the levels on ADAM and EVE production, regeneration and cellular resistance.

She headed toward the girls locker room, in there she removed her training clothes and changed into her regular attire for the outside weather, the thermal clothes, gloves and boots feel uncomfortable indoors but were mandatory outside. After she finished putting the rest of her clothes and gear into her backpack she headed to the exit with the rest of the students. Once they were all gathered in the antechamber, the instructor Drill sergeant Yaoi put on his gas mask signaling for the rest to do the same.

Once the door was opened the cold air outside hit them like cold embrace, as she look around she could see that a few of her fellow students them didn't put their gas mask on. It was not surprise, after all the use of the gas masks was more a tradition than a law. All of them were the third generation of praxian, their lungs and bodies have adapted to the praxian environment, none of them were greatly affected by the planet's atmosphere, Masha especially, yet she used the mask as a habit.

Outside as she followed the rest of the students, she checked the holo map in her data wrist and headed for Professor Rossembaun building a few blocks away from her current position. All around her people walked through the streets minding their own business none of them paid much attention on her, she liked that, yet the voices in her head and the smell of different emotions were starting to bother her. She had years of mental training and biological conditioning, but she could never close her psy abilities completely. People didn't say as much as the graffiti on the walls:

 _There are no gods; there are no kings; Praxis Aeternum_

 _New nation, no colony_

 _We are Praxians; we are the children of the Uroboros_

All of this writings had next to them the symbol of a snake biting its tail; the symbol of the praxian secessionist movement, political and social order was starting to boil little by little in Praxis.

Finally she arrived at Professor Rosembaun laboratory, after presenting her card key at the main door she entered the building. Professor Emil Rosembaun's laboratory was not to different than the training center, praxian architecture was almost the same in most cases, a solid structure design to sustained the constant pressure of the winds and isolate the people inside from Praxis cold weather, also almost every building was equipped with an antechamber design to both avoid the escape of heat and prevent the entry of praxian nitrogen heavy air in the inner space. Once inside she removed her gas mask and put down her winter hood, storing her gas mask in one of her backpack's pocket.

For a few minutes she waited outside Professor Rosembaun's office. Finally the reception VI told her to come in, she sighted as she entered the room only to see that there were two other men inside next to Professor Rosembaun, one looked like a businessman wearing a fancy black tie suit, with a pin carrying the emblem of the Commonwealth parliament near the neck; the other was a military officer using the uniform of the Commonwealth's navy.

'Good afternoon Masha I thank you for coming so soon, may I introduce you to Ambassador Rodriguez of the Commonwealth department of state and Captain Sheppard of the Commonwealth's navy' the professor explained. 'Apparently so they are interested in the use of your psy abilities for a dangerous mission' those last words and the aura of professor Rosembaun expressed concern. Masha was surprised for that.

'Professor Rosembaun would you kindly leave us alone for a few minutes' the ambassador asked.

'Of course' professor Rosembaun answered, before he left the room he send a concern glare at Masha.

'Are we secure?' the captain asked to his arm, where a new top of the line data wrist containing a fancy orange holographic gauntlet appeared around it.

'Yes Captain, the room and building have been scrubbed clean for any listening devices or peeping toms' a female voice, most probably an AI adjutant answered.

'Well miss Lutz, I am sorry for all of this but there is an operation to be execute by a special task force of military, diplomats and a scientific team, but we may need your help.' The captain explained, before handing her an information pad. 'The information in there is classified, we have studied your records about the reach of your abilities, yet we have taken a huge risk by allowing you to read them.' He made a pause. 'You should know, you can back away now, but once you read that, you are in this one hundred percent.'

Masha hesitated for a moment, the she took a huge breath before beginning to read the report, about an incident located in a planet recently surveyed and designated as Kaldir. She haven't passed the first paragraph and the first three pictures before pausing for a moment and looking at the two men, she focused her mind into them, both them were carrying truth, that didn't make her feel better. Her eyes keep widen in disbelieve as she reach the part about the quarian Codex history, she continued reading the report about the battle against the batarian pirate group, by the time she got the summarized Codex of the Citadel Council, she was stiff as stone.

'So not only there are alien nations out there, but there is also a coalition of species out there, and if humanity is not prepared, we will be sweep aside by the mists of history' She declared, to the two men.

The Ambassador simple stared at her, while the captain smiled in response.

'Whatever it is the mission, I am in.' she declared with confidence.

'You do not even want to know the nature of the mission?' The Ambassador asked.

'I am tired of hiding what I am, Ambassador Rodriguez, I want to go and see the galaxy, besides I have a feeling that the mission you are preparing is not a military operation but a rather a covert diplomatic deal' she answered. 'Isn't it?'

'You are right ensign Lutz' the Captain declared with confident.

'Ensign?' she asked.

'You will need an honorary rank to participate in this operation' the captain answered. 'Ensign will do for now. Welcome onboard' he extended his hand to her.

She shacked the hand of the captain and listened as both men explained the mission.

After the debriefing end, she asked permission to go to the bathroom.

Once alone in there she look at her reflection in the mirror, a few doubts were creping over her mind, but the chance to see true sentient alien life was something all of humanity has dreamed for decades.

She removed her contact lenses and stare at his reflection once more, her yellow eyes glowing like a Led. She then put her hand on her belly where a creature that has been part of her almost since her birth rested around her stomach, then she looked the place of the bruise from that morning, as expected it has already vanished completely.

The ADAM and EVE of her blood flared with an almost sexual excitement.

 _I will be hard for them to accept me, but I will prove my worth to them, and if there are aliens out there, then maybe, me and my brethren will no longer be consider freaks or Frankenstein like abominations._

 _May the Great Chain of Endeavor shall guide our way._

XXXXX

 **2109 – Quarian migrant fleet:**

Commander Daon'Nuzzra vas Alarei stood in his room observing the infinite number of stars in the window. He, just like every other member of the quarian race had live his entire life in a ship traveling through the galaxy, nothing in the void was foreign to him, yet there were days he just could not glimpsed the great empty expansion without felling the same emotions he had as a child, curiosity, humility and the desire for exploration.

The last year had been good for him, he had risen from a simple marine to the second in command of the Alarei, all because of the encounter in CM2 (or as his new found friends had called it: Kaldir).

After leaving the planet, Sura'Leth had been able to restore two of the asari prisoners back to health, they did not tell them anything about the humans or their Commonwealth, only that they had also been attacked by the pirates and that by mere chance and a few doses of good luck the four of them were able to defeat the slavers. A few of the batarian corpses were still on the ship's morgue but most of them had been thrown off the airlock so as to reclaim the ship without any trouble.

Upon arriving on their original destination: Illium, the control tower was surprised upon seeing a batarian frigate in quarian hands, and denied them landing authorization until one of the asari former prisoner talked to them and told them everything that happened.

On their landing they were received by a security group of asari commandos, a medical team to check on the remaining asari prisoners and a crew of journalist who were ecstatic to hear the news about the fact that a group of four quarians had outfoxed an entire pirate crew, gaining control of their ship and finally releasing twenty Asari Republic citizens from a lifetime of slavery.

The news went through the extranet quickly and upon their return to the migrant fleet, Daon'Nuzzra, Sura'Leth, Kael'Traen and Ranna'Shiun were received as heroes. Not only they had brought a brand new frigate to the fleet with all its cargo and equipment as a pilgrimage gift but they had also proved their worth to the fleet and the worth of the quarian people to the galaxy, with their actions. Even though there were some tensions regarding the idea that the pirates may seek retribution for the ship and the dead crew, everyone knew pirates were a ruthless batch who may be more ashamed and disgusted at their fellow criminals for allowing themselves to be defeated than at the quarians for outsmarting them.

The mood of celebration did not last long, the day after their arrival, he and his companions presented a report with the whole truth, detailing their first encounter with the humans, the attack of the slavers, the rescue mission and their departure of the planet after the farewells.

The conclave and the admiralty board decided to honor the request of the humans to remain isolated from the galactic community. Deep inside Daon could not blame humanity, the Council may see itself as the great overseer of galactic peace, order and civilization and a beacon of liberty against the savagery of the Terminus systems; but quarians, krogans and many others see the Citadel Council for what it truly was: an arrogant oligarchy determine to maintain their supremacy in the galaxy while they pass judgment on the other races.

Yet a new power was about to rise in the horizon, one not bound by the mass effect technology, the relay network, or genetic and technological limitations. A nation still in its infancy yet powerful and full of potential, and now hungry for allies.

XXXXX

 **January 19** **th** **2109 – Eagle Nebula, CNS Shroud**

 _CNS Shroud_

 _Designation: Commonwealth's stealth frigate_

 _Mission: Infiltrate in Council Space/ establishing contact with the Quarian Migrant fleet_

 _Crew: 48_

Six months after the events of Kaldir, Lieutenant commander Missuro Su Kwon and Lieutenant Luna Da Silva had been given a particular mission: Track down the Quarian Migrant Fleet and offer them an alliance. If humanity was going be prepare for anything when they were to enter the galactic stage then they needed allies, and the quarians were in need of aid, he doubted they were going refuse this offer.

They had been able to hack into the extranet with the help of the ship's AI and discovered the current location of the migrant fleet, however this was not a simple mission, they were traveling through uncharted territory and capture was not an option, humanity was not ready to reveal itself into any alien superpower.

The two of them were not sure about the nature of this operation, despite the fact that Missuro felt proud to be there, onboard the first Commonwealth's stealth ship, a prototype designed to reduce emissions during travels allowing it to become invisible to sensors. While they were traveling through the Citadel Council control space he doubted they could be detected.

Luna had spent two months studying the engines and systems of the Shroud. It was amazing; The Shroud's IES (internal emission sinks) stealth system was her most notable feature.

For the Citadel Council, it was assumed for centuries that starship stealth was impossible. The heat generated by routine shipboard operations is easily detectable against the near absolute zero background temperature of space. The Shroud, however, is able to temporarily "store" this heat in lithium heat sinks deep within the hull.

The IES stealth system has a few limitations however: The system doesn't work during FTL flight because this blue shift the Shroud's emissions beyond the sinks' ability to store, and even while out of FTL, any visual scan (i.e. looking out of a window) will reveal her. However, this is rare since most ships rely on scanners rather than visual contact and spotting another ship in space is difficult. The Shroud can go to 'silent running' for around 3-4 hours, or drift passively through a system for days before having to vent and give away her position. The stored heat must eventually be radiated, or it will build up to levels capable of cooking the crew alive.

The development and construction of the frigate had taken three years, originally the ship was to be finished by 2110 but after the first contact in Kaldir the Commonwealth's naval command had her construction accelerated in order to launch the mission as soon as possible. After testing her system and performance one month before departure, the Shroud was finally ready to boldly go where no human had gone before.

In the CIC Commander Su Kwon began observing the holographic map of the Milky Way detailing the locations, relays and territories that the quarian codex has provided them. He was thankful the expansion of the Commonwealth hadn't put them in conflict with the Citadel or the Batarians as the location of Earth was relatively close to the coordinates of the Krogan's homeworld and Turian's space. On one point of the map there was a triangle indicating the location of the Shroud and in another was a yellow circle indicating the last known position of the Quarian Migrant Fleet.

'Thinking about the mission Commander Su Kwon?' a soft sweet voice interrupted broke him out of his thoughts, and Missuro looked behind him to have his gaze locked with the golden yellow eyes of the sixteen year old girl next to him.

For a few moments Missuro felt a cold shiver going down his spine, Ensign Masha Lutz look like a normal teenage girl in a navy cadet white uniform, her black hair made a delicate contrast with her pale pink skin and her white clothes, but her golden eyes almost shinning like a small glow tell everyone what she was, and not even her warm angelic smile could prevent her deep gaze from making him uneasy. She was a lilim or Kori Lilith (child of Lilith), also referred to as a "little sister". Ever since the discovery of ADAM slugs there had been misuses of ADAM to enhance one's body and capabilities, not one more known and widespread than the one of the Splicers, individuals whose continuous misuse of ADAM resulted in their bodies and minds twisted and deformed, losing most of their rational thinking and humanity. But splicers were not sterile, many of them had given birth to children that unfortunately have inhered the unstable genome of their parents, as a result of that, most of those children died shortly after being born, the ones who survive managed to do so because of the use of ADAM symbiotic slugs implanted in them which helped them healed and achieved a stable genetic structure, those children were known as Lilims.

Most lilims were female as the unstable genome did not adapt well to the male Y chromosome. As a result of the continuous fabrication of ADAM by their bodies lilims had incredible cellular regeneration ability, and a remarkable set of powers that even plasmids could not replicate. The most common and well known ability was the lilim mental bonding, they were in a way telepaths, although scientist claimed that they actually possessed an organic quantum entanglement communication ability that did not only work among themselves but with other beings. Lilims were able to "scan" your mind to know when you were lying, what you were feeling and with enough training they could know what you were thinking, some of them could control not-sapient creatures taming an entire wolf pack or walking through a Chiron flesh eating worms nest without being attacked. Because of all of that and more, the Commonwealth's high command has assigned Masha Lutz as an aid to the Shroud's contact mission; her role was to scan through the quarians conscience and determine whether their intentions were truth or have ulterior motives. Missuro would have requested an adult lilim however High Command believe the less aggressive probing of a teenage lilim would be better, as an adult lilim may have different allegiances and reasons to sabotage the mission, while Masha Lutz was considered one of the most talented Lilims in record.

The Commonwealth's population had not been informed of the events of Kaldir yet, only the navy's high command and the higher echelons of the military and parliament knew about it. The existence of the Citadel Council and the other alien races of the galaxy could send shockwaves across the Commonwealth, mankind state as an interstellar civilization was still very young, and there were still people alive who remembered the time when alien life was still theoretical.

'I am fine Ensign Lutz' he answered as a smile appeared on his face. 'I am just thinking about the friends I made in Kaldir, I just hope that they are well and ready to hear our offer at least.'

'I see' she answered as her smile and golden eyes turn into a sad expression. 'I have been reading the extranet files regarding the quarians. I feel bad for them, losing their planet and their colonies to their own creations, being abandoned and cast out by the rest of the galaxy and force to live the entirety of their lives in a barely functional group of starships.'

'Yes it is true' he muttered. 'Their history is like a chapter of Battlestar Galactica, that old science fiction series'

 _Curse you Nadia Marrash for sending me that collection of pre FTL era television series_

He said nothing but the girl heard it anyway, and she erupted in laugh, with many in the CIC looking at them for a moment. 'I am more of a Game of Thrones kind of girl; the book The Winds of Winter was amazing especially.'

'I prefer A Dream of Spring actually' Luna interrupted them coming through the door and positioning herself right next to Masha.

The image of the light brown hair blue eye woman and the black hair golden eyes teen smiling together left Missuro thinking for a moment. He and Luna had begun a relationship shortly after the incident in Kaldir and seeing her next to the sixteen year old super evolve girl, made him think for the first time of how Luna would be not a girlfriend, but perhaps as his wife and mother with children of their own in some near future.

Soon his thoughts were interrupted when Captain Alexander Sheppard entered into the CIC.

'Officer on deck!' the navigator shouted. Instantly everyone included the lilim girl stood up and saluted.

'At ease, everyone' the captain begun, his rusty yet confident voice putting everyone on edge.

Missuro and Luna had heard about Captain Alexander Sheppard before, the right hand of Admiral Dewitt, a military career man, determined, strong willed yet charismatic and intelligent, exactly the type of person you send to a top secret mission with the unknown as a field of operations.

'In order to avoid any Council's patrols, or putting any unnecessary stress over the IES stealth system we will be taking a slow journey through the Eagle Nebula. If everything goes according to plan, we should be arriving at the coordinates of the Quarian Migrant Fleet in approximately six hours.' he made a pause. 'You all have performed admirably and you were all chosen for this mission because you are the best humanity has to offer.' His voice lace with confidence and pride was reflected in the faces of everyone present. 'Today we write our chapter in history, the choices you made, the actions you take shall define you.' his words were marked in fire in the soul of Missuro.

'There are not gods; there are no kings; only the indomitable will of the human spirit and the infinite potential of our ingenuity shall give us a bright future. Terra Aeternum'

'Terra Aeternum!' Missuro shouted.

'TERRA AETERNUM!' Everyone shouted in response.

XXXXX

An hour had passed since then, Commander Missuro Su Kwon and Lieutenant Luna Da Silva had retreated to their quarters, meanwhile Masha Lutz for some reason she could not fathom stood in the observation deck watching the endless black ocean through the window, deep in her mind she was sensing a faint voice like a whisper calling to her. As the minutes passed and her training and conditioning allowed her to hear it better; the whisper had become a long old song. Focusing the reach of her mind Masha begin to hear the sadness and sourness of the notes, it was like a cry of desperation and surrender, but there was also a whisper of hope, that could be hear between the notes.

When the content of the song became clear as both a cry for help and a long distant memory Masha decided it was her duty to find that lost spirit, no matter the mission, after all she was onboard the CNS Shroud for a reason. Arriving at the CIC she almost demanded to the captain for a general scan of the nearby systems to find the lost singer.

Despite his reservations, Captain Alexander Sheppard agreed to scan for anything out of the ordinary, although his face expressed concern and distrust upon hearing Masha's opinions and conclusions of the "voice".

After a few minutes of continued scanning, the Shroud's computers revealed the location of a single alien craft in the vicinity; a most certainly derelict ship floating in space, apparently adrift. The hologram in the CIC blinked for a moment before zooming in a distant point of the nebula with a green circle in the coordinates.

As they approach the alien vessel, the sour note of the song lingering in Masha's brain became so audible and sad that the girl needed to make an impossible effort to avoid becoming enraptured by it and reduce herself to tears.

When they were less than a mile from the derelict vessel the ship's scans confirmed what they could see through the cameras: It was an old, probably ancient starship of alien design, for all they knew it may have been adrift in space for decades if not centuries.

Even though the captain was hesitant to deviate from the original mission, the chance to salvage any usable components or information from that ship could make it a worthy risk. Generally upon encountering a damage vessel floating in space the common thing to do was to send a squad of engineers aided by a small group of praetorians, but in this case that was too risky and they didn't have the time to take apart that tin can of a ship, so he assembled a squad composed of his three praetorians units onboard and a dozen repair and salvage drones to break into the derelict ship.

 _Generally this is how most Alien terror movies begin. An old derelict alien starship lost to time filled with ancient knowledge and terrifying monsters waiting for someone to wake them up._

The salvage team was assembled in the lower level of the cargo hold, after the room was depressurized; the group jumped forward with their jump packs propelling them into the alien ship's hull. As their mag boots glued them to the surface the Bouncer Praetorian leading the group made a routine scan of the hull trying to find the best place to cut an opening. After a few minutes of hesitation he activated his omni drill and cut a perfect circle in the hull, big enough to allow him and the rest of the group into the ship, one at a time.

XXXXX

Meanwhile in his quarters, Missuro Su Kwon was enjoying his time off duty, he lay exhausted with his eyes close and his head resting in the pillow, next to him lay Luna with her magnificent naked body snug up in his sheets. The sex had been good and fulfilling, the sweet pleasure of two soulds becoming one in a warm and wet embrace.

Luna had once heard about gene-mods focused to improve sexual proficiency, but right there right now, they could not possibly imagine any way to improve that moment.

'Are you awake?' she asked in hush tone, looking back to Missuro while still covering her breasts and body with the sheets.

He simply opened his eyes and looked back to her.

 _My god, why does she always have to keep her hair short or tie up in a bun, she looks SO beautiful with her hair long and untangled._

The brown locks had turned almost black because of the sweat damping it.

'I believe we should take a shower and dress up before our next shift comes, Commander Su Kwon.' She said in a soft voice, and then she stood up and abandoned the bed and sheets, revealing her magnificent round ass and beautiful body as she walked towards the bathroom. Missuro followed suit.

Completely oblivious to the operations happening outside the ship, the world for Missuro Su Kwon and Luna Da Silva was reduced to that room, the warm embrace of the falling water and the intoxicating placer going through them.

XXXXX

After almost an hour of scanning and salvaging cargo and components the survey team returned to the Shroud, carrying what remains of valuable on the ship, passing through quarantine at their return. Masha could hear the faint song coming from one the crates, when the sensor detected organic live signs in several of the crates a lot of nerves were put on edge. According to the engineer team the crates were cryogenic pods designed to keep the alien being inside in stasis.

When she found the crate from where the voice came, she almost opened it up herself but thankfully despite her youth she knew the protocol regarding possible contaminants or dangerous alien organism. The science team took the crate to the lab and scanned the cryogenic pod revealing that inside the container lay an egg almost one thousand years old yet still containing a small level of neural activity.

Once it was determined that the egg hold no danger or was at any risk it was carefully transfer to the Shroud's cryogenic container. Despite her doubts, Masha approached the cryogenic container, laying her hand in the glass window watching the egg inside, with her mind focusing forward she began hearing the song again, its notes had change, it was no longer so sad, nor lonely.

 _She knows I am here, but how do I know it is a she?_

She focused her mind into the egg, reading words, images and smells that the egg was sending her.

'Be careful with that Ensign Lutz' one of the scientists warned her. 'According to our readings and research by cross-reference with the Citadel Council Codex the ship from where we found those eggs was a Rachni vessel.'

'Rachni?' she spoke out loud, Masha had read about the Rachni in the Citadel Codex, a race of collective, incredible adaptable and intelligent insects that almost destroyed the Citadel Council more than a millennia ago, according to the codex if hasn't been for the Krogan the rachni would have spread and wipe out all life in the galaxy.

'Yes, I don't know if it was the right decision to bring those eggs onboard, but the department of genetic research or maybe the Tenembaun Foundation will be quite pleased that we found such an interesting specimen to study' the man answered before leaving her alone.

Her eyes returned to the window and the egg inside. Part of her was wondering if the right thing to do was to put the egg in an incinerator and send the last of the Rachni to the eternal night, but she could hear the song inside and she knew that this being was a fully sentient soul, and most probably the last of its kind, maybe she deserve to live.

'Don't worry, you are safe, here' she whispered. 'We will take you to a new world where your people may begin again, and me and my sisters shall act as ambassadors and interpreters keeping the peace, and understanding. There won't be another rachni war.' She stated in a whisper.

'My name is Masha Lutz, welcome to the CNS Shroud.'

XXXXX

After leaving the derelict ship position and resume with the mission they have reached a relay that according to their Intel was link to the coordinates of the Quarian Fleet. Captain Sheppard was in the bridge observing the holographic representation of the relay, while the man next to him was drinking a cup of coffee. The Bridge crew was maintaining their standard routine while the ship 'ran silent' using only minimal energy for sensors and IES stealth system. Only minimal staff was seated at their consoles as Captain Alex Sheppard waited along with them.

For all of them, this was their job, and they did it with the precision and skill that the Commonwealth Navy expected of them. But for a State Department Diplomat like Ambassador Hector Rodriguez, you could only be so patient for so long.

'So Ambassador, I hope our ship isn't getting too small for you.' Captain Sheppard said with a smile. Ambassador Rodriguez put down the cup, looked up and smiled as well.

'Not yet Captain, not yet. I hope your crew isn't too nervous about the fact that they're sneaking around in this alien coalition territory.' Ambassador Rodriguez replied as the captain checked the scanners log while the Ambassador sipped at his coffee.

'They are honor to be part of it Ambassador; it's not very often that a Commonwealth's Ship more importantly the first stealth ship is sent to lay terms for an alliance with an alien species. We are making history right now.' Captain Sheppard answered.

'Good to know your people feel that way, Captain.' Rodriguez said with a smile. After a week, travelling it was clear that the initial nerves or excitement had mostly vanished.

'Well Ambassador, if the Migrant fleet doesn't appear within the day, I propose we attempt to locate another Mass Relay they might use.' Captain Sheppard suggested. The Ambassador nodded in response.

'I believe that we may have to Captain. But our mission is to contact the Migrant Fleet and the Quarian government. We would have to seek out another relay or begin actively searching for the Migrant Fleet. I think that our best bet is to remain here Captain, our AIs intromissions into the extranet had been providing good information.' Hector Rodriguez replied.

'Yes they have Ambassador, but we cannot simply linger here forever. The Migrant Fleet is somewhere out there, and lying in wait for it is not the best use of our time. 'Captain Sheppard replied.

'I understand, for now we just need to be patient, if we make an agreement with the quarians then we will have quite a good story to tell our grandchildren. I have two sons and a daughter, the oldest is sixteen; they live in New Sparta, Praxis. What about you captain?'

'A boy and a girl, both of them are twenty years old, twins. My wife is also in the navy only that she is a scientist, they are on Earth…' Their conversation was cut off when the sensor grid, lit on like a Christmas tree, and a proximity alert sounded all across the CIC.

'Captain, the Mass Relay is activating to receive incoming vessels.' The Sensor tech said calmly as his eyes remained glued to his display hologram. With a few gestures he brought up the image on the main tactical display. Captain Sheppard and Ambassador Rodriguez turned to look at the main display screen. No one was particularly excited over this information; numerous vessels had passed through this Relay while the _Shroud_ had been waiting. But as several vessels dropped out of FTL around the Relay, it was easy to see that they weren't ordinary ships.

'Vessel Types?' Captain Sheppard asked, leaning into his command terminal and tapping a few commands on his board, bringing up a smaller hologram in front of him. Ambassador Rodriguez examined the information with the Captain.

'Types match Quarian flotilla frigates. Weapons systems are offline, however all ships are heavily armed. ID tags claim them to be Quarian.' The Sensor officer answered.

According to the codex it was certain they were right, only quarian ships possessed a ring constructed as the main head of the ship's body with a long tail ending in the propulsion systems.

'Good, it seems our waiting is over.' Ambassador Rodriguez said with a slight smile on his features. Captain Yan nodded and zoom his display holo closer in on the vessels.

'Standard defensive screen, they're checking to make sure that the Relay is safe for the rest of the Fleet to move through the Relay. According to the Intel gathered it takes days for the entire Migrant fleet to move through a Relay, and the Quarians are experts at moving the Flotilla safely through the network.' Captain Sheppard said with a nod.

'Well Captain, time to carry out our orders.' Hector Rodriguez said and Captain Sheppard drew a deep breath before sighing. Quarians were migrants and vagabonds, but they were well armed and had twitchy trigger fingers when it came to defending the Migrant Fleet. You didn't sneak up on them unless you wanted them to start firing when they found you. Alexander Sheppard didn't doubt that finding a cloaked Human vessel appear in front of their picket line would result in more than a few surprised comments.

'Shut down the IES stealth system and hail them.' Captain Sheppard said calmly, not calling the ship to Battle Stations or ordering the shields to be raised. Doing so might be provocative, and he certainly didn't want that.

XXXXX

 **QFV Idenna - Quarian migrant fleet, vanguard cruiser:**

'Captain Riyum!' the sensor technician called loudly. 'I have contact, unknown vessel bearing 193/411/94 and closing! Range one hundred kilometers.'

Captain Koret'Riyum vas Idenna approached the console, and began to observe the unknown ship that had just appeared out of nowhere.

'Battle stations, raise kinetic barriers, but don't prepare weapons yet' he shouted to the bridge crew, who quickly acted as order. 'Identification?' he asked the technician.

'Unknown IFF, it is a frigate of some kind, but we don't have any records of any similar design' the technician explained, behind his helmet his eyes show that his expression has change from nervous to curious. 'No shields or weapons charging Captain!' he supplied looking at the energy readings, his voice much more relieve.

'Vessel is hailing us Captain.' The Communications officer said from his console.

'Open a channel. '

'Done Captain.'

'This is Captain Koret'Riyum vas Idenna of the Migrant Fleet; state your business here before we regard you as hostile." Captain Riyum said forcefully as he looked out at the vicious looking ship hanging in space before him.

'This is Captain Alexander Sheppard of the Systems Commonwealth Vessel CNS _Shroud_ , I mean you no harm. I have on board Ambassador Hector Rodriguez of the Commonwealth government. We are on a mission of peace.' The hologram of the alien male that appeared in the middle of the bridge shocked every quarian in the room. It was astonishing just how much similar that human was to an asari or a quarian without the environment suit.

'Greetings, captain. Just what is this mission of peace?' He asked coolly, noting the position of the other ships in the detachment, moving in close to surround the human vessel, weapons at the ready. In a flash the hologram of the human captain was replaced by the one of another human male, once again Captain Riyum's eyes blinked in surprise, the resemblance to his kind or the asari was amazing.

'Hello Captain, I'm Ambassador Hector Rodriguez. The Systems Commonwealth wishes to extend an offer of friendship and more to the Quarian people.' the alien man began speaking. 'A few months ago; one of our ships the CSV Kalypso made contact with a crew of four quarians and engage in combat with a gang of batarian slavers. My people is relatively new as a space faring civilization in comparison to the rest of the races in the known galaxy, that incident in fact was our first contact with another advance alien species, as a result my government would like to form an alliance with the quarian people in order to improve our technology and understanding of the galaxy, as well as helping each other to establish new colonies and stand ready for any aggression from other species.'

Everyone in the bridge exchange looks, all of them had heard about the first contact with the humans in the frozen planet by a group of pilgrims and their escort. According to the stories tell by the group, the humans were in possession of remarkable wormhole and mech technology, but their current state as a young space faring power made them not to keen in revealing themselves to the Citadel Council, just yet. Something every quarian could understand as they have very few reasons to be fond of the Council that has always refused to help them.

'Just what do you mean by alliance Ambassador?' Koret asked and the alien smiled slightly, showing a line of perfect white teeth in his mouth.

XXXXX

After the rest of the Migrant Fleet crossed the relay, the Shroud was docked with one of the large liveships in the alien quarian fleet, and the negotiations officially begun. The tension between both parties was reduced after Lieutenant Da Silva and Commander Su Kwon met with their old friends from Kaldir.

Ambassador Rodriguezz held the talks with members of the admiralty board and representatives of the Migrant Fleet Conclave in the Rayya, when they asked for a tour of the CNS Shroud; he allowed it with certain limitations. The quarian delegation was shocked when they informed them about the extended use of AI by the Commonwealth, almost as much as they were when they show them the capabilities of the rift portal technology.

It took almost two days of talks between Ambassador Rodriguez and members of both the Quarian Conclave and the Admiralty Board before a small group of terms could be established. The initial offer made by the Ambassador of providing the quarians the position of "ally state" of the Commonwealth with their services as "experts" in element zero technology, fields like biotics and the political state of the galaxy in return for full rights of colonization to a planet in Commonwealth's space with a dextro-protein base ecosystem was rejected as the quarians did not trust humanity yet, and many of them were determined to one day defeat the geth and return to their homeworld: Rannoch.

However it was not a secret for the conclave and admirals that the conditions onboard the migrant fleet was deteriorating, all of their ships were old and in a ruined state, without any full scale installations and raw materials as well as technology to repair them, in only a few centuries or decades the fleet and its population would suffer.

Finally a new set of terms were achieved, an alliance that could benefit both humanity and the quarians even more than the original treaty. The quarians were to send a survey and diplomatic team to see the exo-planet XD-29 offered by the Commonwealth as their new home, if the planet was consider suitable as a quarian colony; then a great number of their people were to settle there. While the quarians were to have full rights to the planet, a joint human-quarian group of orbital stations were to be constructed in orbit, and while millions of quarians will migrate to the planet, not all of them will permanently settle in there. The Migrant fleet will continue its nomadic journey only that this time they were to have a base of operations where to rest and repair their ships from time to time.

In exchange for the control of the planet and the investment made by the Commonwealth in the maintenance of the quarian fleet; the new quarian colony was to serve as a Commonwealth client state, and the migrant fleet as an ally state.

This agreement consisted in the creation of Quarian semi-independent state in the colony of XD-29, connected to Citadel Space by a rift gate located in the non-claimed system of Kaldir where the first contact took place months ago. A defensive outpost will be positioned there to protect the rift gate set in place, connecting Citadel and Commonwealth space.

XD-29 would be a quarian administrated planet, under the oversight of the Commonwealth.

The migrant fleet instead was to continue its path through every charted system, while also serving as an intelligence gathering service for the Commonwealth: Every update on the political and social state of the galaxy will be send to the Commonwealth's high command and every new technology discovered by the quarians or the Citadel was to be analyze and share with humanity.

Quarians could made their pilgrimages in Commonwealth space but those either in Citadel, Traverse or Terminus space could act as secret intermediaries and agents of the human government and institutions to find and bring anything of valuable to not only to the flotilla but also to the Commonwealth.

Finally despite the fact that human technology was certainly much more advance, a limited technological exchange was put in place.

As the talks carry on, a young teenage girl accompanied the diplomatic party dressed as one of the escort marines, scanning and listening to almost 18 million voices and thoughts, surrounding her.

XXXXX

 **January 28** **th** **2109 – CNS Shroud**

'I thought these talks were never going to end.' the Ambassador sighted as he talk with the Captain in the CIC.

Next to them, the super evolve golden eye girl, was looking to the ceiling seemingly lost in her thoughts, and then she turned towards the two men.

'I was actually surprised to see that those aliens confined to their suits are much more "human" that from what I expected.' She remarked; both the captain and ambassador raised a brow to that last remark.

'What do you mean by that Ensign Lutz?' Captain Sheppard asked, putting aside his cup of coffee.

'I have scanned their fleet I have heard the voices in their thoughts, they are a people filled with emotions: guilt for their mistakes in creating the Geth; resentment against the Council for their refusal in providing them with aid; a burning hatred for their own creations and most of all a strong sense of fraternity, loyalty and trust in each other because of their secluded society.'

Both men looked at the little girl and felt a strong curiosity and surprise for the girl's abilities. Lilims were still a rare sight in the Commonwealth society, and most people believe that their remarkable talents were just rumors. But a lilim like Masha was maybe the closest thing the Commonwealth and perhaps the galaxy has to Psychic, her ability to find that derelict ship with the frozen alien eggs had been proof of that.

'So do you thing we can considered them allies or gain their trust in the long term, Miss Lutz?' this time it was the ambassador who asked.

'I am not sure, for now I can't assume anything. My skills aren't as sharp as the ones of my older brethren, but when we stood next to them inside the central liveship I could sense their emotions and main thoughts as clear as colors in the distance.' She began to explain. 'However when the news of an alliance offer and the colonization of a new world spread across the fleet I could feel a new group of emotions taking place: distrust, excitement, caution yet most of all, hope. The best we can do know, is to see how the situation evolves when the diplomatic party arrives on XD-29 and determines if the planet is suitable for colonization.' She declared with some level of confidence.

'I agree' Captain Sheppard responded. 'As a wise man once said: standing our ground doesn't mean standing alone. The quarians were the first space faring civilization encounter by humanity and soon they may become our allies, hopefully they may be the first of many.'

'I agree Captain' Commander Missuro Su Kwon cut in taking a place next to the group. 'I have to say it was good to see Daon, Sura and the rest of the group from our first encounter in Kaldir. I am not so sure that "friends" is the term I would use but both me and Lieutenant Da Silva have some level of respect for them.'

Both Captain Sheppard and Ambassador Rodriguez nodded to Commander Su Kwon last comment, while the young girl next to them only smiled.

XXXXX

Almost half a day had passed and the Shroud had taken a route through un busy segment of space in order to avoid detection, the route have been provided by fleet command as part of the plan for deployment and retreat, while the Captain was asleep, Commander Su Kwon had taken the night shift on the bridge.

As he tasted his third cup of coffee, the sensor grid lit up and the signature of an alien ship was marked in the holomap before being quickly replaced by the female shape of Meridia the Shroud's AI.

'Commander the ship sensors have detected an unknown ship less than a light year from our current position, it has an unknown profile and seems to be sending a distress beacon. While it is not our orders to intervene, it is fleet protocol to answer to any distress call and this ship is very close to our original secure Rift beacon position for departure.' She explained.

'Understood.' He answered, as he sent a message to the captain's communicator.

By the time the Captain and the rest of the senior officer had gathered in the CIC, they have already closed the distance between the Shroud and the unknown vessel.

'So, we found another derelict vessel?' The captain asked the group.

'Unclear Captain, that ship seems operational but doesn't match known profiles nor possessed any FTL propulsion system according to our scans' Meridia begun explaining. 'According to my preliminary readings that ships is emitting strong AI heuristics, while the vessel itself it is thousands year old.'

'Seriously, thousands of year old? Fascinating' Luna added. Meanwhile, the captain seem to be in deep thought.

'Do you thing is possible they have detected us?' he asked Meridia.

'Inconclusive, our IES stealth system is active and we are too far from the vessel for any optical detection, however the alien ship communication system is still broadcasting what my reading is interpreting as a distress beacon. One thing I can say for certain is that there are no life forms onboard, the ship lacks any vital support systems or artificial gravity.'

All the officers looked each other and then the captain.

'Maintain position for now, I will contact the admiral and await new instructions, for now keep surveying and scanning the ship, but while we are in stealth mode we are still vulnerable to optical detection so maintain distance' the captain answered. 'Commander Su Kwon you have the conn'

After a few minutes the captain returned, as soon as he took his position the hologram of Meridia appeared next to him.

'Set course for the vessel, prepare the survey team.' Everyone nodded in response.

When the salvage crew boarded the alien ship, the tension onboard the Shroud began to flare again. Just when they were about to return home, the unknown launches another piece of uncertainty their way. But after a few minutes of scanning the ship, the crew reported no passengers alien or otherwise onboard, only an huge system of supercomputers, that seem to have been running for centuries, although the lack of atmosphere or gravity inside the ship had allowed most of the equipment to remain very well preserved.

In order to discover the origin and purpose of the ship, the captain ordered Meridia to connect with the main server. Connection with the ship was established and almost half an hour had passed when Meridia presented her report.

The alien ship was an Ark, a virtual world designed to main a population of virtual entities inside a virtual world.

Approximately 8,000 years ago, the virtual aliens faced an imminent crisis: their homeworld's star was about to go supernova. To survive, the virtual aliens built a starship equipped with a network of supercomputers. One billion virtual aliens transferred their consciousnesses into the supercomputers, which contained an entire virtual world for them to inhabit for the duration of the crisis. With a purpose-built AI piloting the ship and maintaining the virtual world, the virtual aliens departed their home system and began a millennia-long sojourn across the galaxy.

The starship's AI was asking help as the energy source keeping the ship and the virtual world running would began to dwindle in a few decades.

After consulting with the admiral again the captain ordered the deployment of the gravity well generator and established communication with the nearest rift gate to focus on their position.

Both ships took position as a ripple of energy begun to appear and growing until a tear in the middle of the fabric of space and time.

Captain Alexander Sheppard looked around him at his crew one last time, the only one who returned the gaze was Ensign Masha Lutz. Finally they were about to return home, a year ago the only proof that humanity was not alone in the universe had been the ruins of a civilization from fifty thousand years ago and a few planets inhabited by primitive alien races. Now humanity had learned about the existence of a vast alien coalition of species that had existed for thousands of years and they have made their first diplomatic agreement with another space faring civilization; they had found a group of eggs belonging to a powerful insect-like race thought long extinct and they were bringing with them a ship filled with all that remains of another long extinct highly advance species.

 _Captain Alexander Sheppard's log, January 28_ _th_ _2109 of the CNS Shroud:_

 _We are coming back to Commonwealth's space, with our new allies and new found cargo. For now, no one can tell what the future shall bring, yet there is always a light in the horizon to guide those lost. The Quarians, the Rachni, the Virtual Aliens, all great civilizations much older than humanity yet all brought to the edge of extinction for their own mistakes or the will of nature._

 _It seems we may have encountered a distinct group of allies, I can only hope we may be doing the right thing, to ensure those peoples may return to strength; to make sure they will be able to make up for their mistakes; to forge united as one, a new era of peace; and so as they could stand together with the human race against anything the void may unleash against all of us._

XXXXX

 **Timeline:**

2110 – A quarian cruiser carrying a diplomatic party crosses the Rift gate in Kaldir and reaches the planet of XD-29. After a few months of discussion and survey efforts, the Admiralty Board declares the planet suitable for colonization. Rename Rannoch Nova, more than half of the population of the Migrant fleet is settled on the planet which is granted to the quarian people entirely.

-Later that year the events of Kaldir and the Shroud mission, as well as the existence and history of the Citadel Council are revealed to the public. Reaction is mix: all around the Commonwealth, riots, public demonstrations and open debates spread like wildfire. A quarian delegation is invited to talk with the leaders of Earth nations and colonies; their presence is met with overwhelming positive reaction. A few months' later panic and fear gave way to curiosity, fascination and new fields of cooperation. For many the existence of the Citadel Council and other alien powers is more than enough reason for the parliament and prime minister to rally and unite the different factions and tiers of human society, in purpose and cooperation.

-A group of orbital space stations are constructed in orbit of the new quarian colony with the help of human engineers and investment of both several corporations and the government.

-The Rachni eggs are taken to the secluded semi-arid planet of Nar-Sara for study. Ensign Masha Lutz came with the team, in order to act as an "ambassador" and interpreter.

2111- After several reparations and discussions about how best to proceed; the Virtual Alien's Ship is taken to a planet known as Rodin site of the Cyber front Corporation main facilities of Epsilon, where most of all AI related research and technologies are develop.

-In the facilities of Rodin, one the VA entities is uploaded into a synthetic body, becoming the first of the VA to being able to openly inhabit the real world.

-Ambassador Shir'Na'Su of the VA entities present himself to both the Commonwealth's parliament and public, requesting further aid of humanity to transfer the rest of his people entities to new bodies.

-The rachni queen now located and studied in the planet Nar-Sara breeds an entire colony, in both the parliament and department of health debates rage on about to either continue the study of the rachni or eradicate them. Masha Lutz and several other lilims psy operatives begun to act as interpreters for the queen and her brood, and openly vouches for the liberation of the rachni of the facilities of Nar-Sara, so as they can rebuilt their race again.

-Later that year in an emergency summit celebrated behind closed doors, the higher echelons of the government and military, alongside several key figures of industry, culture and science, discuss not only the fate of the rachni but also the new integration of the quarians and VA entities into the Commonwealth society.

2112- The rachni queen and her hive are liberated from the facilities in Nar-Sara and they are offered complete control of the central continent of the planet, after a successful evacuation of all the non-essential human personal. While no ships are allowed to descend into the planet without authorization and a fleet maintains watch from orbit, it is the new Order of Interpreters composed of several lilims psy operatives who are task with maintaining order and good relationship with the rachni. The Rachni queen herself taking the name "Maia" after the Greek goddess of rebirth thanks humanity's role in rescuing her and allowing her species to flourish.

-The design of a bio engineer body based in the original anatomy of the VA entities is completed in the laboratories of Rodin; a full scale production of bio engineer synthetic bodies to serve as the new containers for the "souls" of the VA is to begin within the end of the year.

2113- The Quarian migrant fleet returns to the colony of Rannoch Nova, new settlers begin to stay in the planet, while several of the quarian ships are subjected to maintenance and refitting in the new orbital installations on the planet.

-Some tensions began to flare between the quarians and humans about the freedom provided to the rachni, the overextended use of AIs by humanity and the aid provided to the Virtual Aliens Entities, however for the most the relationships between the System Commonwealth and it's new client state the Quarian Protectorate remains in good terms.

-After almost two hundred VA entities are uploaded into their new bodies, Ambassador Shir'Na'Su begins to discuss with the Commonwealth leadership for colonization rights over the planet Rodin, in order to start again, citing the cases of the Rachni and Quarians as an example; offering in exchange their services as a client race and further access to their technology.

-A Quarian, VA and human team of scientist and engineers meet in Acturus station to establish a technological exchange, while nor quarians nor VAs are allowed access to the human Rift portal technology, the new developments of computer processors, kinetic barriers and drive cores, are broadcast to the rest of human society as one of the first joint developments achieved by the cooperative efforts of the three species.

2114- The colonies of Praxis and Shinon, homes to some the fiercest detractors against the Commonwealth and the integration of the aliens, formally request their independence. While some opposition exists, most of Earth's colonies decide to remain loyal to the central government. Despite having most of the military and population are on their side, the Parliament fearing the dangers of an internal unrest or even civil war in the face of alien threats finally allows the planets Praxis and Shinon to achieve a state of independence under the terms: "three countries, one nation, one human race": establishing Earth and the rest of the colonies as the United Federation of nations, while the new Praxian and Shinonan states are reformed as the Praxian Directorate and the Republic of Shinon. Despite the new autonomy, the three nations are subjected to the central rule of the Commonwealth's parliament which acts not only as the mediator between the three but also as the governing body of mankind and the main representing entity to their non-human allies.

2115- Several investments allow for the Epsilon facilities in the planet Rodin to be upgrade and expand. By January 11 2016, almost a million VAs entities have been uploaded into their new bio-synthetic bodies, as the fabrication of new synth bodies continues; the Commonwealth's parliament formarly recognized the new alien state and grants almost complete control of the Rodin system to the VAs entities. Shir'Na'Su former ambassador now recognize as the leader of the VAs entities declares the planet of Rodin their new home, and inspired by the human myth of the Talos construct he declares his people a new species and nation: the Talosians, renouncing their former identity in order to begin anew.

2116- The Commonwealth and their new alien allies initiate an expansion across uncharted space, surveying and charting new systems, planets and anomalies.

-In September 18 2116, the CNS Hawking a survey ship begins to survey the system of Juttenheim site of a colossal star with almost 3000 times the mass of Earth's sun. In one of the many planets in orbit, the greatest discovery in human history since the prothean ruins is uncovered. In a massive asteroid field formed thousands of years ago by the clashing of two Earth like planets, an alien construct monumental in size is found. A spider web like construct, of almost 110 kilometers of diameter with a group of asteroids capture and attached one to the other by an endless network of support beams, with a massive 14 kilometer long asteroid in its center and a ring like structure in the circumference of the web, sprouting out of the ring structure are twelve like petals surfaces known as pylons: Four mayor size pylons with a length of 35 kilometer and 15 km width are located in each cardinal point of the ring, with the remaining eight pylons of 18 kilometers tall and 8 kilometer width, serving a similar role to the wards of the Citadel.

-Initial hypothesis theorized the purpose of the construct as a massive mining space station. However as further studies are committed, it is determined that the inhabitants of one of the broken planets of the Juttenheim system manage to survive the destruction of their world by escaping into space, however without FTL technology, their only hope was to survive with what they had, using their ships, stations and broken pieces of their planet to build the super structure. Even though they have survived the destruction of the planet and for hundreds maybe thousands of years manage to live on by harvesting the asteroid field around them and expanding their station, their extinction was certain. Maybe just like the quarians, their bodies and immune systems have degraded too much, or maybe there was a massive failure around the habitat ring that prevented them from saving themselves. In any case, "the Spider Web" as the construct was nicknamed became a nexus of studies, operations and developments for the Commonwealth.

2117- In the firsts joint project performed by the Commonwealth and its alien allies the reconstruction of the Juttenheim's construct begins. The quarians and talosians offer their technical aid and some of their best engineers in the repairs for the vital system; while thousands of Rachni workers under the oversight of the second Rachni queen Nafash and Lieutenant Masha Lutz begin repairing the bulk of the construct mechanical body; and the human repairs crews handle the repairs over the support structure and the repurpose of the outer ring.

The ring structure being 8 kilometers width, 500 meters thick and with a circumference of 345,5 kilometers is turned into a super massive hadron collider with neutronion reactor cores in four cardinal points. The energy input generated by the ring is so massive that it is capable of powering up multiple rift gates connected to any point of Commonwealth space.

2118- After almost 15 million of talosians are uploaded into new bodies and the repairs on several areas of the Juttenheim's construct are finished, leaders of the humanity, the quarians, the talosians and the original rachni queen with her lilim interpreter are gathered in the central control tower. The documents regarding the extinction of the protheans from the Mars Archives are revealed to all, convinced that the best way to protect each other and future generations from following the same fate, Prime Minister Augustus Sinclair alongside the alien leaders decide to reform the Systems Commonwealth into a new Multi Species Democratic Federation.

-Also despite the quarians suggestions against it, a new charter granting full rights to fully sentient synthetic life is signed by the Council.

2119- After the completion of the first alpha rift gate in the Juttenheim's construct on august 14° 2119, the System Commonwealth has its parliament, leading council and main institutions transferred into the alien construct. Rename as the Erebus Nexus, the station serves as the newly inaugurated capital of the recently formed Unified System Commonwealth. Taking a role similar to the Citadel, several Rift gates are constructed connecting the station not only to nearby rift gates but also to every core world of the Commonwealth including: Earth, Chiron, Praxis, Nar-Sara, Rodin and Rannoch Nova.

-A quarian admiral when questioned about his opinion claims: "Right now my people have a new world, and today we have a council seat in a new Citadel."

2120- Construction continues on the Erebus Nexus, turning the four main pylons into fully habitable wards using the lessons and technologies used in the construction of Rapture to develop the buildings and habitable areas, yet the economy of the Commonwealth begins to suffer the effects of the massive investment that the Erebus Nexus project have taken on the national reserves.

-In a nearby system of the Erebus Nexus, a desert planet containing a native species is discovered. Yet unlike other primitives' civilizations or the species of the Commonwealth, the Kashani civilization had not yet develop FTL technology but seem to be only a few decades or generations away. However they were running out of time, the entirety of the Kashani population live in the North and South Pole of the planet yet the deserts were advancing to them, it seems either years of industrialization or a change in weather patterns had lay way to a collapse of the planet's biosphere.

-Even though one of the main directives of the Commonwealth was the preservation of independent civilizations to advance and progress without outside interference, honoring the actions of the protheans eons ago over the human civilization, the situation of the Kashani species was an unique case: while the kashani had not develop FTL technology yet, several artificial satellites were orbiting the planet in a clear evidence that the kashani had potential for becoming an space faring civilization, also the steadfast decay of their planet's environment could condemn their entire civilization to extinction before they could achieve FTL or colonize other worlds.

-The parliament and the newly inaugurated High Council convened an emergency session, in another close vote, held after a series of emotionally charge debates, it was determined that even though the uplifting of a primitive species could bring troublesome consequences and ethical conflicts, the failure to save an entire species from extinction would be far worse.

2121- A Commonwealth's joint task force is landed in the planet of Muin-Saku and establishes contact with several of the Kashani clans, offering the Commonwealth's aid in building an infrastructure capable of sustaining their remaining living space and further expanding into space. While some conflicts and opposition begin to appear from the most radical clans, most of the Kashani accept the Commonwealth's aid and diplomatic relationships are established.

2128- The talosian population uploaded into their new bio engineer bodies reaches the 200 million, meanwhile construction in the Erebus Nexus continues and the newly constructed terraforming devices and infrastructure in the planet Muin-Saku prevent further decay and expansion of the deserst.

-The Kashani established their first extra solar colony in the nearby garden world of Faron-Sha, transferring several of their citizens to the new world. Later that year the new unified Kashani government the Kaish-Guile, request Commonwealth membership.

2129- The Kashani are granted an embassy in the Erebus Nexus and a seat in the High Council.

-With new technologies, industries and colonies in operation, the five member species of the Commonwealth initiate a massive infrastructure and military development.

2130- The census of population is completed: 24 billion humans, 21 million quarians; 320 million talosians (only those uploaded into the bio engineer bodies, or those born after); 500 million Rachni (workers and warriors, with 18 queens) and 3 billion Kashani.

-Each species begins building their own fleets, as long as they agree to obey the orders of both the parliament and High Council.

2132- A new wave of expansion and colonization are authorized by the High Council, however limits are put in place, in order to avoid revelation to the Citadel Council, and possible conflict.

-The Colony of Shanxi is founded

2134- The construction of a new generation of jointly operated warships, codename Project Yigdrasil begins. One particular trait of these new warships is the use of organic components in their subsystems, like a neural network synthesize from ADAM cells and using EVE and eezo as an energy transfer fluid to enhance energy base weapons and both kinetic barriers and taquion shields.

 **This has been the longest chapter I have ever written, I am sorry if this chapter was too slow and too repetitive but I thought it was best to give context to the story. One of the reasons I begin writing this Crossover was to fully exploit the poorly develop and unexplored contents of Mass Effect and Bioshock, here are a few notes of my observations and intentions:**

 **-The Systems Alliance from Mass Effect is a poor prospect for a future human society; most of humanity seems to be forgotten, there are no observations of Asian, Latin-American, Arabic or African culture; the government of the Alliance is an American inspire democracy with a capitalist economy, even its symbol only shows North America. I wanted to fully develop the troubles and conflicts as well as the many traits of humanity in the Systems Commonwealth.**

 **-Many races are poorly develop and explore in the Mass Effect universe: The quarians are not as fully explore as they could be; the Rachni are seen as an old fear and idea than a race and society to be explore and others like the Virtual Aliens, Raloi and many others only appear in the CODEX.**

 **-I know many would think that the Erebus Nexus is a very far fetch idea, but when many imagine an alternate humanity for the Mass Effect universe like in so many Halo Crossovers, is the use of an alternative FTL method to the Mass Effect Relays, the most common base for an Original Faction. It is interesting to observe the imagination behind the Mass Effect technology: Artificial gravity, inertial dampers, and FTL are explained; not to mention that the relationships between the Reapers, the mass relays and the Citadel is the core of the mass effect universe. The Erebus Nexus and the Rift Gates are a counterpart to the Citadel and the Mass Relays respectively and they will have a role to have in the future war against the reapers.**

 **-The Kashani are my own Original Species they are based on the Kushans, and their planet and society is based on Kharak from Homeworld. I will explain them and the Talosians in further chapters, but I add Kashani not only to complete the five member confederacy of species that is the Commonwealth. But also to explore a concept many sci-fi IPs failed to do so; humans in Earth have many diverse cultures and societies; so why is every turian, asari and salarian pretty much the same? The Kashani are a race with many clans and nations that will have a further development in next chapters.**


	5. Codex: Species

**CODEX: The Unified Systems Commonwealth**

 **-For the record I wanted to complete the beginning of my version of The First Contact War by the end of the month, but because of personal and professional problems, that seems unlikely. However as a head start to future chapters and to answer many of your questions, I give you my experiment on world building regarding the species and nations of the Systems Commonwealth.**

 **-Many thanks to the Youtube Channel, The Templin Institute for their ideas on world building and Spacedock for their ideas on space combat and ships.**

 **CODEX:**

On august 14° 2119, The System Commonwealth officially became a multi species democratic federation with the Erebus Nexus Station acting as its capital.

The five member races of this confederacy are the Human Federation, The Quarian Protectorate, The Talosian Assembly, The Rachni Hive and the Kashani Coalition; each of them maintaining an Embassy and a seat on the High Council of the Erebus Nexus. The massive superstation that it is the Erebus Nexus generates so much energy that is able to maintain a group of mounted built in Rift gates capable of connecting to any other Rift Gate in operation. As the old saying goes "all roads lead to Rome", all rift gates can instantly connect to the Erebus Nexus, converting the construct into a center of economic, military, scientific and politic activity.

While humanity maintains the unofficial role of "leading race" and "peacekeeper force" of the Commonwealth, in a similar manner to the Citadel Council joint fleets and forces of the five member races are tasked to control and administer several areas of their territory, like the Erebus Nexus.

Each species of the Commonwealth, are granted a great deal of sovereignty, like almost no limits to their expansions, or the ability to declare and impose their own laws in their respective territories; as long that does not interfere with the greater good of the Commonwealth. Despite all of this, humans tend to have a final say in most matters regarding the state of the government and its member states, this is in great part because of the proportionally much larger population, military and economy in the hands of humanity, and the fact that the four remaining members nations of the Commonwealth are still mostly dependent of human investment and technology for their operations and expansions.

 **CODEX (The Human Federation – Humanity):**

The most prominent species of the Commonwealth, the Human Federation is the leading member state of the Commonwealth.

Humans have a fairly robust physiology, their biology and reproductive process are typical of most bipedal mammals, just like the Asari and Salarians they are a levo-protein base species.

It was by the middle of the first century that the nations of humanity made their first attempts to fully unite as one race and government. The spark of this massive change was the discovery of the prothean ruins in the neighboring planet of Mars, which was follow by an impressive technological development and space colonization movement.

As a young space faring civilization, several nations of planet Earth (humanity's homeworld) and colonies have a great level of autonomy, making the Commonwealth resembling more like a united federation of nations than a single state.

After their first contact with a group of quarians attacked by a batarian pirate crew, the joint human-quarian operation to rescue their crew members from the pirates, and information exchange was the beginning of an alliance between the inexperience newcomers to the galactic stage and the vagabond refugees of the migrant fleet.

The human government upon discovering the existence of the Citadel Council decided to further develop their own interstellar dominion rather than to openly present themselves to a greater galactic community. Alliances were later established with the Virtual Aliens (later known as talosians), Rachni and Kashani, that cemented the creation of the Unified Systems Commonwealth.

The most significant nation in human history was the Rapturian Objectivist Republic, once a safe haven for humanity's elite during the threat of a nuclear war, Rapture became the most technologically advance power in Earth, eventually leading the rest of the human nations to the stars. As a result many of the characteristic of Rapture's culture became the core of human society as whole; for example most humans are atheists or agnostics regarding the existence of a god or deity as something primitive. The Great Chain of Endeavor is one of the most important pillars of human culture: according to this philosophy, every individual in the human society has the right and duty to achieve as many feats as possible not only in pursuit of his own wellbeing but to the collective as well. By every action there is an echo and by every act we change the world, the chain is a link that binds every human together and by the action of a few or the many chain continues to grow strong, by their ideals the pursuit of happiness, knowledge and wealth should never be hold back by nothing other than the wellbeing of the many or the ethical code. Rapture's secret nature during one of the darkest periods of human history, perhaps instilled in the humans a sense of awareness and the value of careful planning and secrecy rather than blatant reaction.

The unified government of humanity is known to their citizens as the United Federation of Nations or to outsiders as the Human Federation. This combine government is a parliament with representatives of almost all of Earth nations (which maintain some degree of autonomy), colonies and even semi-independent planets like Praxis and Shinon. The central government of the Federation is located on Earth with the Parliament located in the city of New York and the Prime minister office housed in Hong Kong, other institutions like the International Court of Justice and the Federation Stock Exchange are located in The Hague and Rapture respectably.

Earth prominence as the Core of Human Space and Capital of humanity has been greatly respected by most colonies, even by the almost rogue nations of the Praxian Directorate and The Shinon People Republic.

The military and fleet of the Federation are headquarter in Hades, a planet colony located in the Tartarus System, while the main military outpost and trade nexus of the Commonwealth second only to the Erebus Nexus is Arcturus Station a massive facility located in a central Relay Nexus, between several critical systems.

Human technological superiority explains how humanity has achieved in decades what other races had taken centuries to build. The technology of the Rift gates allowed them to be independent the Mass effect relay network and expand faster (as rift gates can open a tear portal into a nearby system or location, as long as they have precise coordinates and can link together with other rift gates to form a network); their bio technology leaves even the salarians behind and their advance AI developments have allowed them to sustain a flourishing economy and an impressive succession of technological leaps.

 **CODEX (The Talosian Assembly):**

One of the most unclassifiable races in the galaxy, the talosians were once an organic race of simple nature, until the decay of their sun force them to take unimaginable measures to ensure the survival of their civilization.

Approximately 8,000 years ago, the virtual aliens faced an imminent crisis: their homeworld's star was about to go supernova. To survive, the virtual aliens built a starship equipped with a network of supercomputers. One billion virtual aliens transferred their consciousnesses into the supercomputers, which contained an entire virtual world for them to inhabit for the duration of the crisis. With a purpose-built AI piloting the ship and maintaining the virtual world, the virtual aliens departed their home system and began a millennia-long sojourn across the galaxy.

Establishing contact with the Human ship CSV Shroud in January 28 2109, the starship's AI sought help as the energy source keeping the ship and the virtual world running was dwindling.

Establishing themselves on the planet Rodin, the Virtual aliens began working in conjunction with human scientist and engineers to develop new synthetic bodies capable of sustaining their individual entities programs.

After receiving an immense inversion by the Human Federation, the VA develop a new generation of bodies by mixing the few surviving original DNA samples from their ship with the genome of a local primate species from Rodin, this new Avatar Bodies carry extensive implants designed to link the organic body to the virtual entity uploaded into its brain.

As thousands and then millions of Virtual Aliens have already uploaded their "souls" into their new bodies, also a new generation, completely organic in nature was born as this new bodies also have the potential for reproduction.

Finally on 2115 Shir'Na'Su former ambassador then leader of the VAs entities declared the planet of Rodin their new home, and inspired by the human myth of the Talos construct he proclaimed his people a new species and nation: the Talosians, renouncing their former identity in order to begin anew.

In the biological nature of their bodies the Talosians are a humanoid race that stands around seven feet tall; they have pink skin, but no facial hair. They have two small forearms that work in conjunction with the larger limbs. They a body shape and sexual dimorphism is similar to humans, with a reproductive system standard to those of large mammals.

Each Talosian, be the ones uploaded into their new avatar bodies or born completely afterwards are equipped with remarkable neural implants that not only enable the entity to completely control and adapt to the body but also improve the being's mental and cognitive abilities.

Prizing knowledge above everything else the talosians have a "caste" like system, which is the core of their society, every individual almost since childhood can be classified because of his or her aptitudes, talents, and personal tastes and preferences, so as they reach maturity (or since they have been upload into an avatar body, in the case of the "original talosians") they are assigned to an special caste suitable to them. Alpha are the higher echelon of their society, builders of knowledge, leaders, and scientists; Beta are the preservers of knowledge and life, medics, librarians, researchers; Epsilon are the lower tier of their society but also are the majority of their adult population, workers and engineers; Zigma are a reclusive caste assigned to artists and designers; and finally the Omega are those that have a role in the military or intelligent services. Although this seems primitive and even socially oppressive to humans, there is a great deal of movement between castes: An Alpha can join the military and become an Omega, or an Epsilon can work and improve its abilities and knowledge and be transform into an Alpha.

As decades have passed since their establishment on Rodin, the Talosians have expanded into the nearby systems, creating a small but prominent dominion, making use of the adaptability of their semi-synthetic nature to control and exploit planets and locations that could be consider too hostile for other races to settle.

The Talosian government is known as the Assembly. In a virtual chamber the talosian leaders from every caste and location are gathered by connecting their individual entities in a virtual world in order to save time and resources, in there, thoughts, perspectives, opinions and knowledge are exchange until consensus is achieved. The Talosian Chief of State and representative against other powers is the Assembly's Spokesman.

 _NOTE: I based the biological shape of the talosians on the Morra or Beta from the RTS game Grey Goo: wiki/Morra_

 _But the nature of the talosian species is greatly inspired by the entities of the videogame Soma._

 **CODEX (The Kashani Coalition):**

The last of the five member species that form the Commonwealth, the Kashanies are a race of omnivorous warm blooded reptilians, native to the planet of Muin-Saku. Evolve to adapt to the adverse and deteriorating conditions of their homeworld, the Kashanies, make use of a highly adaptable internal system of organs to recycle fluids and save energy, allowing kashanies to survive days without food or water. Kashani have an average lifespan of 70 years with few living beyond that age, even with good health and gene mod therapy.

In a similar matter to reptiles, Kashani skin is covered in a horny epidermis, such as lizards and snakes, the whole skin is covered in overlapping epidermal scales, which offers some low level thermal and radiation protection.

Another similarity with Earth reptiles is that kashanies also shed their skin continuously throughout their lifetime; afterwards the discarded skin can be recovered and treated to serve as cloth, although that practice has been receding in the last decades since the introduction of foreign cloth materials from other worlds.

Sexual dimorphism among Kashanies is roughly analogous to humans. Females have breast like protrusions, and their head "horns" are less pronounced than males' while also containing a group of growing follicles in their place. Kashani reproductive systems are considered fascinating by human biologists; in a similar manner to sharks females gave birth to live young. Most remarkable however it is the fact that their hormone base reproductive instincts seem to favor the search for genetic diversity: A male or female Kashani surrounded by members of their Kairh (clan) will not likely feel attracted to any of them, no matter the level of familiarity or closeness. Yet when confronting two opposite gender members of different clans, each will most probably feel attracted to the other.

Yet it is the kashani brain structure the most fascinating part of the Kashani biology; while lacking the hyperactive minds of the Salarians, or the eidetic memory of the Drell or Enhanced humans, Kashani possessed a complex neural network that allows them to remain focus on several activities at the same time, which also gives them enhanced learning abilities and a deep meticulous focus that enables them to maintain track of even the most insignificant detail. This particular trait of their nature is best expressed on their works of technology and art, in the Commonwealth space, Kashani works of art like statues, paintings or songs are held in the highest consideration and prices. Kashani recent technological jump brought fort since their contact with humanity and the rest of the Commonwealth species has enable them into becoming a space faring race, adding their own unique ingenuity and resourcefulness into their civilian, scientific and military space effort.

In the last habitable territories of the South and North Pole, surrounded by enormous deserts, on the planet of Muin-Saku, the Kashani have organized themselves in separate Kairhs (their name for nation or clan). Each Kairh is in simple terms similar to the feudal societies of the middle ages of Earth, with minor Kairhs pledging loyalty to a larger, more powerful Kairh that serves as the protector and guide of the lesser clans. The leaders of each Kairh are known as Kaish.

The most prominent Kairhs of Muin-Saku are:

Sialket (one of the oldest and wealthiest clans, custodians of knowledge, for centuries the Sialket have been a neutral clan that have possessed among their ranks a great number of scientists, engineers and philosophers; most Kashani respect the Sialket as the intellectual guides of their people).

Naraum (the largest, most powerful clan of the south, formed by the union of thousands of minor kairhs, it has on its ranks millions of engineers, workers and builders, they are considered the apex kairh of the South).

Palmuk (ruling and the only great kairh of the North Pole, thousands of year ago, their members crossed the immense desert to escape the oppression of the most ruthless clans and through hardship and loss, they formed a new nation on the North Pole of Muin-Saku, only establishing contact with the South millennia later, because of their history they contain a great value of freedom and self-determination).

Sorahn (A complete warrior clan, it was founded centuries ago by renegades of different Kairhs, they possessed an "spartan" like mentality, only respecting strength, intellect and will, for centuries after establishing themselves as one of the greatest military powers of the Muin-Saku they have offer their services as mercenaries and commanders to the highest bidder).

Meltau (once a minor clan that has been able to reach independence and prominence, they are a clan of miners and workers, that takes pride in their endless struggle and resources, as the kashani have reach the stars the Meltau have been spearheading the first mining and development operations in outer space).

Manau (a renegade clan, considered undesirable by many, the Manau however are known for the artists and entertainers among their ranks, and as a neutral nation that has always attempt to remain outside of conflict while also keeping peace on their lands).

Even before the intervention of humanity and the Commonwealth, the Kashani were making the first steps for the formation of a one world government. Centuries ago, a bloody war between the most powerful Kairhs, the Siahain and Galdium almost destroyed the last habitable regions of Muin-Saku and the infrastructure designed to maintain most of its citizens alive; in that time of death and destruction the kairhs Sialket, Naraum, Palmuk and Sorahn joined forces to stop the war and finally brought down the rule of the Siahain and Galdium. The leaders of the greatest Kaihrs later joined together to form the Kaish-Guille an united council, that in the decades that follow, made every necessary effort to repair and maintain the infrastructure of the cities in the poles to prevent the growth of the deserts to finally swallow the last remaining habitable regions of the planet.

Now the Kashani have been incorporated into the Commonwealth, establishing the first of their new extra solar colonies and making use of advance technology and a new great deal of resources to repair their homeworld. This transition has not been without conflict as a great deal of mistrust and fear is still present in various segments of the Kashani population. Most importantly however, the old great Kaihrs of Siahain (once a powerful empire, now a small nation that lives by the idea that the members of the other kairhs are inferior and they alone should be allow to live in the habitable areas of Muin-Saku) and the Galdium (a religious people that worship the great creator Sarook, and seek to prevent the technological and cultural advances of the entire kashani race, believing instead that the hardship of the deserts will bring a new stage of evolution for the entire Kashani race), are still present in the Kashani society. The Siahain have been making protest on the cities of Muin-Saku calling to cease all aliances to alien powers and making a new kashani star empire capable of rivaling humanity and the rest of the galaxy. Meanwhile the Galdium, merely a shadow of their former self have been launching a series of terrorist attacks and sabotages on the new launching and ship building facilities of the planer, believing that the "abandonment" of Muin-Saku in favor of new garden worlds and colonies will "call upon the wrath of Sarook".

As a collection of still independent Kaihrs joined together on the Kaish-Guile, the government of Muin-Saku and its colonies it's known as the Kashani Coalition.

 _I based the Kashani in the society of the Kushans from Homeworld while their looks and shape are based on the Artwork of Dan LuVisi in ArtStation: artwork/lRWG5_

 **CODEX (The Rachni Hive):**

Once the greatest and most feared enemy of the Citadel Council; the Rachni are an insect-like species from the planet Suen that threatened Citadel space roughly two thousand years ago during the Rachni Wars. Intelligent and highly aggressive, the spacefaring rachni were driven to expand and defend their territory. They were eventually defeated and completely eradicated by the krogan, who had been uplifted by the salarians for their combat prowess and physical resilience to directly confront the rachni in the harsh environments of the rachni worlds. The accidental discovery of the rachni led to the Citadel races curbing their rapid expansion, in fear of being plunged into another galactic war.

Millennia later the human ship CSV Shroud discovered with the help of a Lilim psi-operative called Masha Lutz a derelict ship thousands year old with the intact egg of a Rachni queen. At first confined, observed and studied on the facilities of the arid planet of Nar-Sara, the Rachni queen and her colony were later released and allowed a limited area to flourish and expand.

Relationships between the Human Federation and the rest of the Commonwealth are surprisingly stable and cordial, as the human organization now known as The Order of Interpreters composed entirely of Lilim psi-operatives is task with representing the Rachni queens and hives while also allowing the thoughts and knowledge of the other races of the Commonwealth to be transmitted to the Rachni.

Rachni are extremely resilient and normally inhabit extremely hazardous worlds, able to survive environments that would kill most sentient species. While every Rachni unlike many though are sentient and remarkable intelligent beings, the queens are the leaders of the rachni hive mind. Their ways of perception, thinking and communications seem to be different from that of other races, and based upon a synesthetic perception of sound as both sound and color.

Growing in size and number in an impressive rate since their establishment and liberation, new queens and hives have been born, creating a sort of hierarchy with the youngest queens known as hive queens' control only small hives and settlements, the middle tier there are the Brood Mothers, older queens that lead group of hive queens and their colonies, finally the leaders of the entire Rachni Hive are the Original queen found by the Shroud that has taken the name Maia, in honor of the Greek goddess of rebirth, and the elder queens under her command. Knowing about the mistakes of the past, the Rachni Wars and the almost complete extermination of her kind, the Rachni queens have agreed to limit their expansion and to work in collaboration with the Commonwealth, making use of the order of interpreters to serve as their ambassadors and representatives on the High Council of the Erebus Nexus.

Under the guidance of Maia, the Rachni Hive has settle on a dozen systems and a small number of planets, making use of their high birth rate and collective constructive potential to build a small stellar dominion that works in collaboration with the High Council to expand and maintain the Systems Commonwealth economy.

In the Erebus Nexus and the Orbital Construction Yards on the Tartarous System, swarms of Rachni workers and warriors serve as repair and construction crews, and thought Rachni working units have a tendency to "scare the crap out of anyone", their collective working capabilities are widely known and respected even by quarian engineers.

While the Rachni by their nature and history have been experiencing difficulty to integrate with other races in joint projects and operations, they have been extremely prized for their impressive industrial nimbleness. Also the Commonwealth Praetorian Corps has been developing a new praetorian exo-bio-suit for Rachni Brood Warriors not only capable of enhancing their combat capabilities and resistance, giving advantages like survival in the space vacuum, but also "translating" the rachni mental song into verbal language, allowing those Rachni Brood Warriors to "talk and communicate" with humans, quarians, talosians and Kashanies.

 **CODEX (The Quarian Protectorate):**

The first contact of humanity with an extraterrestrial space faring civilization was with a group of quarians on their pilgrimage on the frozen planet of Kaldir. Aware of the dangers and potential conflicts, with the Citadel Council and other alien powers on the rest of the galaxy, the human government seek an ally on the nomadic quarians.

Allowing the quarians control and exclusive settlement rights of the Axis system, a remote solar system containing a blue star and several planets, with one among them containing a dextro-based primitive basic ecology, an agreement was established. The planet known from now and on as Rannoch Nova, has been settled by millions of quarians, with a great number of orbital station and construction and repair yards among them, Rannoch Nova is the new home and central base for the Migrant Fleet. As many quarians are still determined to retake Rannoch their homeworld one day rather than to permanently settle on the new world the Treaty of Rannoch Nova, includes the establishment of two separate states: The Quarian Protectorate serves as the only of the non-human states of the Commonwealth to be a client state of the Human Federation, requiring still a great deal of investment from humanity to construct, repair and develop their ships and settlements; meanwhile the Migrant Fleet still continues its journey through Citadel Space, making use of two rift gates linking the Axis System and the Kaldir System to travel in between the two territories, serving a sort of "proxy-ally state" the migrant fleet continues to travel in between planets on Citadel territory keeping the existence of humanity, the System Commonwealth and their new role on the Erebus Nexus a secret. The Migrant Fleet serves a sort of intelligence gathering service for the High Council, keeping the Commonwealth inform of every activity and news on the rest of the galaxy; also while most quarians carry on their pilgrimages on Commonwealth territories, generally serving on human ships or facilities for a time; those who venture on Citadel Space sometimes carry on assignments for the Commonwealth, recovering technology, artifacts or any interest piece of equipment that may call the attention of any Commonwealth department of R&D.

The settlement on Rannoch Nova has not been without troubles, quarian weak immune systems have made the transition from a sterile environment to a planetary colony difficult, to cope with this the Commonwealth Praetorian Corps have been developing a new generation of exo-environmental suits for quarians designed to not only enhanced quarians biological resistance but also simulate diseases, in order to jump start quarians immune systems. The requirements for the defense of their new world, alongside the introduction of new technologies, mining outpost and resources has enable the quarian protectorate to build their own defense fleet, incorporating advance human weaponry like Tiamat Cannons or Taquions shields. The Migrant Fleet however has not been allowed to make use of human and Commonwealth critical technology, because of the dangers and risk of capture from outsiders.

Working in collaboration with the Human Military, the Migrant Fleet Marine Corps has recently begun developing their own Special Forces group, making use of modified praetorian suits, these new heavy soldiers dubbed "Templars" are specialize on anti-synthetic weaponry and cyber warfare technology.

Despite of the enormous potential of the quarians and the considerable power of the Migrant Fleet, the Quarian Protectorate is perhaps the less prominent member of the System Commonwealth, because of their small population and economy. The Quarian Protectorate has only a few millions citizens while humans, Kashanies and Rachni number in the billions, also the Quarian mistrusts for AI and synthetics has made them reticent to make use of any synthetic workforce or AI assistance, while human and Talosian's economy and military has an extended use of synthetics and AIs.


	6. Chapter 4: Knocking the wrong door

**Chapter 4: Knocking the wrong door**

 **It has been a while, as you can imagine I have been very busy with my last year on the University. I have officially graduated and received my college degree and earned the title of architect! I don** **'t know if I may be able to carry on with this story for long, but this has been a remarkable exercise for me on worldbuilding and I have expended too much time and energy researching and writing so for now I will carry on.**

 **This has been a hard chapter to write, I had to investigate a lot of the lore of Mass Effect and Bioshock. It is time to show the first clash between the Systems Commonwealth and the Citadel Council, be ready I am about to introduce some of the cannon characters of both IPs.**

 **Also please bear in mind that I am including some systems and locations on my own creation, as there is no cannon data about the location of Shanxi in the Codex and galactic map. I was greatly inspired by the remarkable fanfic of Knight Vigilant Koren: The Fourth Council Race.**

 **EchoSentient: Heavens sake, I meant to write Yanoi**

 **LordXaero: Thank you, that means a lot**

 **Xenozip: I know, one of the reasons I began writing this story was to improve my worldbuilding and to see the integration of Bioshock philosophies and technologies into a space sci-fi universe, with a more powerful human race in the stage**

 **DahakStaz: Thank you, for all. Such huge reviews, as for your questions they will be answer in future chapters, but for now, the Geth are a main element of ME1 so I will not include a contact with the Geth until further in the story.**

 **Gorgoc: Thank you, Thank you**

 **OMAC001: Ohh Believe me, you will not be disappointed.**

 **EvilTheLast: Just wait and see**

 **Johng23: THANKS, I am glad you are enjoying my story**

 **Skywardwanderer: Thanks**

 **DRMAK: Once again, just wait and see**

 **AscendedHumanity: I will develop that in future chapters**

 **Heartfanglives: I been building to that moment since the beginning, just wait and see**

 **Blaze1992: The story will answer those questions, but pay attention to details: The Thinker (Bioshock 2: Minerva Den); Lutece Rift Gate (Bioshock Infinite)**

 **ColdFang: I am glad you enjoyed, just wait for future chapters**

 **Fido123a : Thanks for all, those words meant a lot to me**

 **2155 – Yàosài Base; Colony of Shanxi:**

"Another day of protest has plagued the streets of Novaya Moskva, capital of the colony Volga." In the looking glass screen a female voice belonging to the news anchor reported the latest news, as an airborne drone view of dozens of protesters in front of the main government building at the colony world planet was being transmitted. "This is Kara Wong, for the Commonwealth News Network, the Asian woman said as the view switch to her and her anchor partner."

"Thank you Kara." The man next to her said as he the camera focus on him. "The colony of Volga, a planet located in the Ravía Cluster, on the frontier between the Human Federation and the Quarian Protectorate's territory, has become an important industrial center in recent years. Tensions have begun to flare as the colonial government and central corporations of the planet have been vouching for the employment of non-human workers. Because of Volga's proximity to Quarian space dozens of transports land and depart from the planet each day, and thousands of Quarians have chosen Volga as the start point for their pilgrimages. With thousands of Quarians finding jobs in several companies because of their expertise in engineering and technology, many of Volga's human citizens see their chances for work at risk. Human supremacy groups have begun to appear in greater number on Volga, many of them lead by the controversial organization known as the Greater Terran Imperium or GTI for short." As the anchorman continues explaining, images of the protesters continue to appear on the screen, the last was a man carrying a banner containing a white iconography of planet Earth with a sword going through the middle, on a black background.

General Williams switched channel, those fanatics of the GTI received more camera than they deserved, they were not even worthy of being called terrorists, they were thugs plain and simple.

He rolled through the trending topics of the CNN:

"On the colony planet of Hoysala, a new massive exhibition of Kashani Art is being held on the capital city of Karma, thousands of visitors are expected to attend, amongst them some of the Commonwealth's most prominent citizens."

"The world of Alainsijam has begun to expand the Iridium and Platinum mining operations, with the Aitifaq Mining Consortium taking the lead on the market, the stock price of the company increased after the discovery of a massive Platinum deposit in the main continent of the planet."

"The Chinese and Rapturian governments have begun a joint agrarian development on the Chinese colony of Chóngsheng. Also notorious scientist Emil Suchong descendant of the legendary Rapturian genius and pioneer of ADAM genetic molding Yi Suchong has established his lab on Chóngsheng's capital."

"In orbit of the planet of Wakanda a colony funded by the South African state, the Morrigan Gate Forge, an orbital construction yard of Rift Gates second only in size and production by the Hefaestus Gate Forge on the Rialis system; has completed the construction of the first Zigma class Rift Gate: An 8 kilometer diameter Rift Gate with new neutrinion cores and top of the line computer processors, the Alpha class gate can increase the distance between the two connected points by 400% according to the director of the Morrigan Gate Forge Station."

As he finished reading the top news, his data wrist beeped and a report detailing the activities of the science team studying the inactive relay on the edge of the system appeared on the holographic screen. He sighted, the Changhong Colony Development Company had been pushing him and the colony's governor for an activation of the inactive Mass relay, claiming that according to the galactic maps provided by the Quarian Migrant Fleet, the Zodiac Cluster connected by the relay, was an area abandoned by the Citadel because of the absence of Garden Worlds or considerable resources. However, the cluster was still in close proximity to the Krogan DMZ and most important, it was still on Citadel Space. The risk of an unprepared first contact was far too great and it could lead to war. Only god knew if humanity and its allies were ready to come into contact with the greater galactic community.

 **2155 – Serpent Nebula, Citadel Council Chambers**

Councilor Tevos, was trying hard not to fall sleep after another discussion with the Volus ambassador claiming that his people deserved a seat on the Council.

 _This is getting old, so many decades on my position as representative of the Asari Republic and nothing changes, just a few hundred years more, for once I envy the Salarians._

The Turian Councilor Prateus a former military also shared her tiredness, and seem to be holding down the desire to through the Volus Ambassador out of the airlock.

Finally even the salarian councilor Eshael, a young dalatrass with only a few months on the position, had also had enough.

"Ambassador please, the role of your species as the owners of the main banking and financial institutions, and your role in securing the Unified Banking Act remain in the outmost consideration by this council" The Salarian Councilor explained. "However, the requirements for a seat stand that your species should provide fleets, resources, and economic aid in case of disaster. Please understand that allowing your people into this council without being ready may affect the delicate balance in the galactic community, and its markets."

Finally that seemed to shut up the Volus at last. The short ambassador walked out the door living the council alone in the citadel tower's chambers.

"Well now pushing to actually important matters, what news about the recent incidents on the frontier with the Terminus Systems, what does the STG last reports said?" Tevos asked the salarian councilor.

"The raids on several colonies through the attican traverse have been increasing in the last month, this "Black Fleet" as survivors on those colonies victims of attacks and raids have called it, seems to be composed of pirates and slavers from the terminus Systems equipped with highly advance technology and weaponry." Councilor Eshael explained. "Their main line cruisers are of Batarian design according to all reports but they are equipped with a powerful direct energy weapon, similar to a direct laser beam that can cut through kinetic barriers relatively easy, as well as a remarkable heat radiation dispersal gear that allows them to maintain direct ship to ship combat endurance longer than most warships."

Tevos and Prateus shared a concern look. It was not a secret that in the last few months, colonies, mining stations or scientific outpost in the attican traverse have been raided by an unknown force, leaving few survivors, on their wake, as a result the Council have ordered the deployment of additional patrol fleets and survey missions, while the Spectres investigate any lead regarding the activities of the "Black Fleet".

"It is obvious that the Batarians are behind all of this, those spirits dammed slavers, may be equipping their criminal and pirate allies with state of the art technology in order to weaken our hold on the Attican Traverse, and make us look weak to the Terminus Systems" Prateus responded with disgust on his voice.

"We still need evidence, if we are to confront them, however the Spectre assign to the case Tela Vasir has reported rumors of a secret project conducted by the best scientists and military officers on Khar'shan" Tevos answered, before making a pause. "Also the Batarian ambassador has been quiet lately, the Batarian delegation has been pushing for exclusive colonization rights on the Skylian Verge for years and then they suddenly cease all attempts to request an audience and push their claims forward?" she made a new pause. "I don't like it."

"Neither do I, it is clear that they are preparing for something" Eshael pointed out, Tevos noted that Eshael as a salarian dalatrass was focused and disciplined, she talked slow and normal, unlike the previous Salarian Councilor a male who talked racing through every word.

"Another interesting observation noted by a STG cell has been the recent activities of the Quarian Migrant Fleet." She finished.

"What does the suit rats been up to?" Prateus asked, again with both surprise and disgust on his voice.

"Well as you know the Quarian Migrant Fleet is composed of second hand ships mainly built by other races and then bought by the Quarians at low price, or hasty assembled freighters and frigates, all organized in a massive moving fleet protecting the three main Live Ships that produce most of the food eaten by the inhabitants of the fleet" she began to explain. "However in recent years, STG has noted the increase in numbers of more advance and much better equipped frigates and cruisers among the ranks of the Migrant Fleet. Also they have observed a distinct feature of the Migrant Fleet usual route: in the last two months alone, the Flotilla has traveled to a remote system in the Safire Cluster at least six times. STG analysts think that the Quarians may have established a colony or a mining outpost on a small ice covered planet on the Vuraxi System, and they are using the resources extracted to expand and further maintain and repair their fleet."

A small silence fell down in the Council Chambers, as Tevos and Prateus exchange looks.

"Ha.. So the Suit Rats have been busy, yet that is hardly our concern. Unless another species pushed for mining or colonization rights on those systems, we have no time for this."

Tevos nodded, yet deep inside she felt that there was more to it.

"In any case, the Primarch and I have been discussing an increase on patrol fleets at the Krogan DMZ, the last thing we need, is for any Krogan clan or Blood Pack gang to take advantage of the movement of peace keeping assets to the Attican Traverse in order to wreak havoc on Citadel Space."

Both Tevos and Eshael nodded in agreement.

 **2155 - Zodiac Central System – Zodiac Cluster**

CSV Hastings

Designation: Commonwealth's Phalanx class Recon frigate

Crew: 38

It has taken two months but finally the board of the Changhong Colony Development Company has managed to convince the governor of Shanxi to allow for the activation of the dormant Mass Relay connecting to the Zodiac Cluster. According to the Colonization and expansion rights and limits under the so call Sinclair Protocol, only the Commonwealth's navy and engineer corps under the direct oversight of the High Council and the department of colonization and development have authorization to perform the activation of dormant mass relays. However the legal advisor of the company had discovered an interesting loophole in the articles of the Sinclair Protocol over the use and control of both the Mass relays and Rift Gates:

Colonized systems in relay connected clusters, were organized in a network, giving some central clusters like Exodus the role of a relay Hub, and the further emplacement of Rift Gates in those areas allowed for the overlaying of the existing Mass Relay Network with the ever expanding Rift Gate Network.

So far the Commonwealth has colonized the Central Exodus Cluster with colonies like Eden Prime in the Utopia System, and Terra Nova on the Asgard system; as well as new colonies like Noveria a planet handed over to joint corporations and private firms rather than a single or various nations, on the Horsehead Nebula; through the activation of the mass effect relays. Once those systems have been fully claimed, and if those systems and clusters were declared critical, the next step was to position a rift gate connecting to the closest Rift Gate Hub. Exodus for example was a central relay hub that contained a rift gate in every colonized system; meanwhile the Horsehead Nebula and the Pax System were not considered critical or develop enough to earn the positioning of a rift gate; also the mass relays connected to any cluster under control or oversight by the Citadel Council were completely restricted for activation, for example those in exodus connected to the Petra Nebula or kite's were forbidden for even a preliminary study.

However and this is where the Sinclair Protocol allow for some flexibility, primary and secondary mass relays linking to clusters without the Citadel Council oversight were authorized to be activated, in the case the necessity to secure and develop the primary sector require. There was even a precedent case: The civilian authorities at the Exodus Cluster have pushed for the activation of the Hades Gamma relay and in order to further secure the central exodus cluster and allow for a possible future expansion on nearby sectors, they were granted authorization to put in operation the primary and secondary mass relays on the sector.

So now as there was confirmation by the quarian migrant fleet that the cluster known as Zodiac connected to Lambda Expanse (Shanxi's colony local cluster), has been abandoned by the Citadel Council because of the lack of critical resources and its proximity to the Krogan DMZ, the relay could finally be reawaken.

Hopefully its activation would not only allow the nearby systems on Zodiac to be surveyed and exploited, but it would earned the Lambda expanse cluster a new position as an strategic and economic enclave, that could merit the emplacement of a Rift Gate on the Fujian System, and several more on the systems located on the Lambda Expanse.

It was night shift aboard the Phalanx class Recon frigate CSV Hastings, as the CEO of the Changhong Colony Development Company Li Huanchang, was on one of the CIC's terminals observing the last readings about that the survey squadrons were conducting on the planets of the Zodiac Central System. Meanwhile Lieutenant Commander Theresa Ramirez was staring at the tactical holographic display on the CIC. The CSV Hastings was an old frigate only 168 meters long; the Phalanx class has been retired from production years ago in favor of the Wyvern class force recon frigate which was larger and more versatile than the Phalanx class, so those Phalanx class still in service were mostly relegated to survey duty or auxiliary service. Despite all of that, Lieutenant Ramirez was proud of her ship and crew, and their service record was spotless, so she had been assigned as the commanding officer of the five unit frigate wolf pack flotilla assigned to babysit the research corvette group and engineer team from the Changhong Colony Development Company, she was hoping this mission could end soon, so she could return to her regular post with the Sixth Fleet on Arcturus Station.

XXXXX

A few hours had passed since the activation of the Zodiac-Lambda relay and the main group of the survey flotilla has moved to the orbit of the main gas giant on the Central Zodiac System, meanwhile the four recon corvettes of the Changhong Company were busy scanning the asteroid belt on the edge of the system. As reported by the quarians there were not any suitable garden class worlds on the system and cluster, which was the main reason why this sector hasn't been claimed by any Citadel race; but there were a reasonable number of mining candidates on the asteroid belt and the small zero atmosphere planet, that might merit the deployment of mining drones and working crews.

Lieutenant Commander Ramirez sighed and looked at the unchanging CIC display again. Another group of frigates have joined them, a wolf pack flotilla led by the CSV Termopylae a Wyvern class Force Recon 242 meters long Frigate; the new group was guarding the Active Mass relay. Meanwhile, the CSV Hastings and its pack were patrolling the inner system, and the CSV Rio de la Plata leading corvette of the survey scientific group was stationed on the edge of the system finishing the general scan.

 _This is getting dull, very fast_

The comms array light up and made her jump out of her. "What da hell! Contacts, multiple contacts, fifteen unknown ships have just appeared out of FTL. Not known profiles, not recognition codes, not regular heat and radiation signatures. They are not OURS!" The Comm technician shouted.

 _Shit! Just when I was wishing this was more interesting!_ "EVA scan those ships check known IFF and profiles from the CODEX" she asked the Engagement Virtual Assistant, VI of the Hastings."

"Scanning.." the female voice of EVA answered through the Intercom. "Scan Confirmed. Unknown starships confirmed to be turian warships: six class Turian cruisers and nine class Turian war frigates."

"Turian? Shit. We just poke the Citadel's hornet nest." Lieutenant Ramirez said to no one in particular. "Prepare a first contact transmission"

 _The Commonwealth's High Command is not gonna like this_

"First contact transmission with language and basic historical data ready for…" the Comm technician was interrupted.

"Holy shit! Survey squad under fire! Repeat the alien ships are attacking the corvette scouting group!

"Well so much for peaceful first contact!" she made a pause and looked at the holographic representation on the CIC, there were eight corvettes on the edge of the system all of them were unarmed except for some standard Point Defense Ion Laser Guardian System. Two of them have been destroyed under the concentrated mass accelerator weapons on the Turian frigates, the rest were heading straight to the relay in an attempt to flee. If she was to engage the Turians she could start a war between the Commonwealth and the Citadel Council, but if she didn't those men and women from the scouting group were going to die, she need to make a choice now.

The movement of another shape on the holographic projection told her that someone has made the choice for her. The second Wolf pack group lead by the CSV Thermopylae moved to intercept the enemy fleet.

"Acardi what are you doing?" she asked the Commanding officer of the Thermopylae through the communicator.

"Saving human lives Lieutenant Ramirez; these aliens have proven their intentions by opening fire on unarmed ships" Lieutenant commander Acardi of the CSV Thermopylae answered.

"If you engage them, you could start a war" Ramirez answered.

"If we don't save those corvettes, the Turians will have direct access to their computer logs and know everything about our operations in the best case scenario; or our entire history at the worst. I have ordered my ships to engage the Cole protocol in risk of capture, and I sent a probe through the relay to warn the colony, but we must protect this guys, it is our duty" Lieutenant Commander Acardi answered.

Ramirez look back to the holographic map, and then to her crew around the CIC, her XE Lieutenant James Vikary just nodded as to make it clear that whatever choice she made, the crew would support her. She reached for the intercom and the communication with the rest of the Wolf Pack frigates.

"Frigate group, converge on the Hastings, and prepare for combat" the crew instantly jumped into action, as the illumination of the ship switched to the pale blue of combat light. "Assume formation Delta, as the Second Wolf Pack moves to engage the Turian fleet directly we will move from the side and flank them, focus your fire on the enemy frigates and maintain Formation, to coordinate the Point Defense Grid."

Soon under the lead of the CSV Hastings, the CSV Wounded Knee, the CSV Kursk, the CSV Verdun and the CSV Fulford assume an arrow shape Delta formation and powered up their engines raging into combat.

The Turian flotilla maintained their pursuit of the scout corvettes yet reconfigured their formation when they saw the two angry frigate groups converging on them, lowering their velocity and placing their cruisers on the frontline with the frigates on the flanks. Acardi's wolf pack soon reached the firing range of the Turian cruisers which focus their axial mass accelerator guns forward; Acardi's wolf pack however was composed of five wyvern class frigates, big and strong but fast and no easy target for the Turian cruisers. The mass accelerator guns were followed by a volley of torpedoes that were luckily intercepted quickly by the joint point defense grid of the Frigates.

Soon Acardi's flotilla turned from Delta into Diamond formation and deployed their main guns. If there was a reason why the Wyvern frigate has been so successful on the battle simulations it was the installment of the miniaturized version of the Tiamat Magnetic-Hydrodynamic Weapon. Once the leading CSV Thermopylae deployed her weapon the void enlighten like a blue supernova as the leading Turian cruiser was hit with a stream of superheated molten metal at relativistic velocities. The Kinetic barriers of the cruiser lasted barely a few seconds before an explosion almost cracked the cruiser in half. As the rest of the frigates powered up their Tiamat Cannons the Turian cruiser line collapsed, with two cruisers destroyed and the remaining three heavily damage.

The Turian frigates rushed in and began to engage Arcadi's wolf pack, but at that moment Ramirez's flotilla cut their way in. Hitting them with their mass accelerator weapons and deploying their torpedoes while the only remaining operational Turian cruiser attempted to aid its frigate escort group to fight the enemy.

"Status!" Ramirez demanded on her CIC.

"Two more Turian frigates destroyed, but the Kursk and Fulfort are reporting heavy damage, their kinetic barriers are below 30% and most of their weapons have been rendered out of operation"

"Understood assume attack pattern Wagon wheel, we need to surround the remaining cruiser and keep on the tail of the enemy frigates. I doubt the Turians place weapons coming out of their asses." A small laughter crossed the CIC despite the seriousness of the situation. "What of the corvette scout group?"

"They are only a few minutes from the mass relay" the comm technician answered, while Ramirez accessed the Communication with the Thermopylae.

"Acardi, the scout group is safe, we need to leave now and warn the Common…" She was interrupted when the CSV Wounded Knee exploded right next to them, a shoot coming from a mass accelerator weapon of at least 50 kilotons of power.

"Commander, we have confirmation approximately a hundred new FTL signals on the edge of the system and one Turian Dreadnought class ship is leading them, a single shot from that 892 meters long monster can break us apart. We need to move now." The Comm technician shouted in shock. In other situation Ramirez would have scolded that crewman in private, for showing insubordination but in that moment he was absolutely right.

"All ships retreat, fire all our torpedoes on the remaining enemy frigates and head straight for the relay." She shouted through the comm.

All ships included Arcadi's group accelerated towards the relay, in an attempt to escape the large Turian fleet coming for them.

"Commander the Corvette scout group has passed through the relay, they are safe, and we are twelve minutes away." The comm technician confirmed.

"Negative" her second in command James Vikary cut in. "The Turian fleet is moving a frigate squadron to intercept us, at this rate they will be on top of us in six minutes" he made a pause.

 _If we don't get through to warm them of the size of the Alien fleet then the colony of Shanxi could be destroyed, before the Commonwealth could manage to gather its forces._

"We are not gonna make it" a lone crewman said, resigned.

"Yes you are" The voice of Commander Carlos Acardi of the Thermopylae sounded through the intercom.

"Lieutenant commander Ramirez I am transferring the entirety of my crew to the CSV Platea through the rift gate portal, I will keep the Turians busy enough time so you can escape."

"Are you crazy Acardi? This is not star trek; we need as many ships as possible to break through the turian fleet, you cannot abandon the formation to play hero."

"There are at least forty Turian frigates about to come in at our flank, most of our ships are damage, you won't make it, neither of us will; but if I intercept the frigate squadron you may be able to punch through" he answered.

Lieutenant Commander Ramirez hold silent for a few seconds. She watched the holographic display on the board: there were only seven frigates left (four Phalanx class and three Wyvern class including the Thermopylae). Finally she looked up to the holographic representation of Commander Acardi, he was right.

"I will take our people home I promise" answered Lieutenant Commander Ramirez with conviction on her voice.

"Thank you Commander" he answered before saying: "There are no gods"

"There are no kings" she continued.

"TERRA AETERNUM!" the entire bridge crew shouted at unison, as Acardi's hologram flickered and vanished.

The CSV Thermopylae broke formation and headed straight for the Turian flotilla, the alien ships opened fired, with the Wyvern class frigate dodging most of the direct fire and intercepting most enemy torpedoes with its point defense guardian system, yet receiving many hits as well, with its Kinetic barriers lowering fast.

By the time the Thermopylae was at range to fire its Tiamat Cannon, only its Rearden heavy ship armor was holding the vessel together. Two Turians frigates were destroyed as the Thermopylae fired both its Tiamat Cannon and Javelin disruptor torpedoes, then a thirds also fell when the Thermopylae made another pass avoiding enemy fire through a combination of luck, her captain-pilot skill and the its AI masterful maneuvers.

Finally several frigates concentrated fire on the approaching vector of the human vessel and one the Thermopylae's wings was torn apart, venting fuel like a beast bleeding on its side, the Thermopylae looked like a predator showing its fangs and refusing to die.

On the bridge, Captain Carlos Acardi was on the helmsman position guiding what was left of the Thermopylae straight into the Turian Fleet.

 _There is a reason why this ship was named Thermopylae_ , her captain though. _I will not surrender; I will not retreat; I will fight until my last breath._

As the Turian concentrated fire broke apart the ship its captain steered it straight into the closest enemy ship. In the emptiness of the void no one could listened as the hull of the human frigate crashed against the hull of the leading Turian frigate, breaking their armors as the Thermopylae's power core overloaded taking the enemy ship with it and damaging the two closest to them, in a flash of light that for a second created a new star on the sky of the closest planet.

On the edge of the system the remaining six human frigates lead by the CSV Hasting were flung across the galaxy, carrying the data of the first space engagement in the history of mankind and the warning of the first extra solar war coming towards them.

 **CODEX:**

-Phallanx class recon frigate: One of the first new generation combat frigates on the Commonwealth's navy the Phallanx is a 168 meters long vessel and as its name implied a ship designed to operate on a squadron and formation; making use of top of the line tracking algorithms to make an anti-fighter and anti-missile defensive grid with their Ion Laser Point Defense System. Also they are equipped with a powerful mounted mass accelerator weapon and a battery of Javelin Disruptor Torpedoes. Despite being cheap and easily mass produce, as well as reliable in the last decade its role on most fleet has been replace by squadrons of Combat Corvettes which are equally capable of forming a defensive anti-fighter grid in greater numbers. Also the upgrade of new armor and weaponry has given way to the design of its successor the Wyvern Class. Just at most ships of the Commonwealth both the Phallanx and Wyvern class have small size rift gate portals on their cargo bays designed to transport personal and materials between ships and positions.

-Wyvern class force-recon frigate: The new frontline frigate of the Commonwealth's navy, the Wyvern is much larger than its predecessor being 242 meters long and carrying a much heavier weaponry and armor than the Phallanx. Designed to operate in five units' squadrons known as wolf packs, the Wyvern is a multi-task ship capable of overwhelming groups of enemy light cruisers with superior numbers and fire power or make use of hit and run tactics thanks to its speed and FTL capabilities. The Wyvern is a highly customizable ship, that in most cases it has been upgraded with Tiamat mounted cannons, and in others with Rearden Heavy Ship Armor Plating. Some ships of the class have even been upgraded with Stealth capabilities, although those systems are not as fully relievable as they are in true Stealth ships. Also many ships carry Gravity Well Anchors designed to stabilized emplacements of Rift Gate Portals; sadly that was not the case with the 17° Wolf Pack unit on the Zodiac Central System.

-Rearden Heavy Ship Armor Plating: Named after Hank Rearden a scientist from Rapture that developed a super strong alloy, through molecular fusion and the use of mass effect fields to super compress layers of Reader Steel and carbon nanotube sheets woven with diamond Chemical Vapor Deposition. Rearden Heavy Ship Armor Plating can resist even the tremendous heat and kinetic energy of most starship weapons.


	7. Chapter 5: Blood in the void

**Chapter 5: Blood in the Void**

 **Hello it has been a while, sorry I was busy with college and I went to a trip to the beach for a few weeks without my laptop of course. I had been researching Bioshock and Mass Effect lore as well as other IPs.**

 **As a side project I made an account on deviantart, to publish my own 3D renderings of starship designs, hopefully I will be able to complete the design of the ships of the Systems Commonwealth, and give your imagination some aid.**

 **Thank you all for all the feedback and interest; now in this chapter I will answer many of your questions and give way to the introduction of various cannon characters and OCs critical to this story. Please sit back and enjoy.**

 **2155 – Narraste Stream Cluster, Krogan DMZ. A few hours after the engagement on the Zodiac Central System:**

In orbit of Tuchanka the Krogan homeworld, they were stationed 3 dreadnoughts from each Council race leading the three patrol fleets tasked with maintaining security on the center of the demilitarized zone, and forming the Citadel Council DMZ Enforcement Fleet which stood guard over the only inhabited system in the sector.

Patrolling the rest of the sector were two more patrol fleets of the turian navy; that this cluster held 5 dreadnoughts (1 asari, 1 salarian and 3 turians) was practically a testament of how deep the wounds inflicted on the galaxy by the Krogan rebellions have been, even 1300 years later.

The Aralakh Cluster contained both the Krogan Homeworld and the primary relay leading to the center of Council Space, while the Narraste Stream Cluster (named after a goddess from salarian mythology) on the edge of the galactic map was connected to Aralakh by a secondary relay which also contained another secondary mass relay leading to the system 483-72 on the previously though abandoned Zodiac Cluster.

The adding of two new patrol fleets a few months ago lead by the _HWS Implacable_ and the _HWS Shield of Menae_ could have been considered overkill or a waste of resources by many commanders, and before today Admiral Varkus would have been amongst them. The situation on the frontier with the Terminus systems was serious, with the attacks from this pirate "Black fleet" increasing. Yet the council was unwilling to send fully assembled fleets with dreadnoughts and risk starting a war, so 2 more of the 35 dreadnoughts of the turian fleet have been reassigned to the Krogan DMZ each leading a patrol fleet of approximately 400 vessels (200 ships less than a turian battle fleet).

A standard turian fleet consists of 600 ships centered around a dreadnought acting as the banner ship, so by orders of the council the 22° and 23° fleets have been reassembled with their banner ships leading the patrol fleets around the Krogan DMZ, the other 200 warships were sent to reinforce the joint fleets on the frontier with the Terminus Systems.

For the past two months nothing serious has been reported, now a Turian battle group have been attacked and nearly decimated by an unknown force.

Admiral Varkus commanding officer of the Krogan DMZ Second Patrol fleet stood on the elevated podium of the bridge of his banner ship the second line dreadnought _HWS Implacable_ , looking at the report of the engagement on the system known only as 483-62, not believing his eyes. Standing in the opposite site of the room was Captain Legan Krovatus commanding officer of the _HWS Virrokan_ leading cruiser of the survey group sent to scout 483-72 which has encountered the unknown vessels and suffered tremendous casualties on the engagement.

As soon as Captain Krovatus have reported his encounter with an enemy flotilla, Varkus has moved his banner ship and fleet to the System 483-62, he thanked the spirits that the comm buoys at the system have been able to receive the transmission from the relay at 483-62. The arrival of his fleet has forced the retreat of the enemy ships but they were incapable to prevent their escape through the outer primary relay.

"How many ships did you lost?" he asked the captain, who flinched for a second and looked down, in a clear display of personal shame, yet he took a deep breath and look to the rest of the bridge.

"We lost four cruisers; the other two are heavily damage, from my nine strong frigate varren pack we lost 5 frigates, the remaining four are damage, but only two are no longer combat capable. We lost many good Turians, and for all stands and purposes my task group has been decimated." Captain Krovatus look broken but also angry not only against those alien vessels that have inflicted so many casualties but against himself for failing in his duty to protect all those soldiers under his command.

"Please summarize your report on the encounter with the unknown vessels" Admiral Varkus asked.

"As stated in my report, upon exiting the relay we found ourselves facing a varren pack of corvette class vessels, presumably some survey group. As you can see from the display they had an unknown profile and they were only 62m long." The admiral and the rest banner officers assembled in the room nodded, noting the unknown profile of the ships showed in the holographic display. "The sensors reported that the corvettes had civilian grade mass effect cores, kinetic barriers, and armor yet lacked any weapons. This combined with their unknown profile and small size led me to believe that they were smuggler ships. I followed the standing orders regarding the presence of such ships in the krogan DMZ and I opened fire immediately."

"Standing orders actually require that we interrogate any ship before opening fire, in case it has a legitimate cargo and flight plan that may have been lost in the bureaucracy." Superior Captain Corinius cut Captain Krovatus off. "Even though your actions in this case were entirely correct, as there is no legitimate reason for anyone to be in that system, remember to follow orders to the letter in future. The status of the suspect ships will not always be so helpfully determined by their location."

Krovatus's mandibles narrowed in a display of anger, yet he released a deep breath of relief, glad that they were not condemning his decision to open fire without communicating further, so he continued his report. "As the unknown alien ships turned to flee our sensors detected two varren pack frigates groups converging on our position. One group was formed by small size frigates of 168 meters long while the other contained 242 meters long ships, all of them holding unknown IFFs and profiles, yet our sensors confirmed those ships to be military class and containing heavy weaponry. I assume a defensive formation, relying on the heavy fire power of my cruisers and numerical advantage to neutralize the group. However the larger enemy frigates opened fire on my cruiser line with a powerful energy base weapon."

He made a pause looking at the faces of the now surprised banner officers, as he showed the video recording of the battle. Even the admiral's chin drop in disbelieve and a bit of horror as the leading enemy frigate fired a blue beam and almost took down a turian battle cruiser on one shot.

"You know the result of the engagement" Captain Krovatus finished.

The rest of the reports from the other banner officers went through the terminal of Admiral Varkus; he read it quickly, taking special note on the sacrifice of one of the enemy commanders and its ship, who have been able to take down three Turian ships and a fourth by ramming its own vessel to a Turian frigate. He also needed to make contact with the Citadel as soon as possible regarding the activation of the relay 314, however one of the banner officers of the Eighth Legion assigned to the Second Patrol Fleet stood from his seat and called the attention of the rest of the room.

"Admiral this energy base weapon use by the unknown ships matches to the reports of the engagements against the pirate "Black fleet" on the frontier with the Terminus Systems." General Desolas Arterius declared, drawing the attention of the remaining officers to himself. "This is not a standard smuggler or mercenary group: Those ships were military class, they maintained formation when engaging a numerical superior force and one of those ships even sacrificed itself to allow for the rest to escape. Not to mention that they have activated a dormant relay, and are operating beyond Citadel Space."

Everyone began processing what General Arterius have said, thinking deep about the seriousness of the situation. "What are you saying General?" Admiral Varkus asked with authority on his voice.

"Don't you see, what we have in front of us?!" the general shouted in an arrogant tone. "Those criminals have activated a dormant mass relay without the authorization of the Citadel, this is no smuggler group or blood pack gang; we are facing a pirate group from some Terminus system power or maybe Batarian faction who may have discovered a Protean ruin on the other site and have reversed engineered the technology to develop this weapon which has destroyed so many war ships and end the lives of so many good Turians." Everyone's eyes went wide, some believing that General Desolas Arterius theory was too far fetch yet the information presented in front of them hold absolutely nothing to refute that hypothesis.

"That is going too far general, the attacks from the "black fleet" have been going for months and before today, there was no report of an activation of this relay." Captain Corinius said.

"Then this situation is even worse than what we have anticipated, not only the Second Patrol Fleet has suffered a defeat against an enemy with serious numerical disadvantage but they have also allowed for an unknown party to operate on their area of patrol practically since the beginning of their assignment" The General Countered.

Everyone looked at General Desolas Arterius like if they wanted to surgical remove his carapace very slowly, he has just called them incompetents and more importantly he have insulted their honor; yet the admiral swallowed his anger and raised his hand to call for silence.

"ENOUGH! While I do not share the certainty of General Arterius regarding this situation one thing remains clear, some unknown party has violated one of the oldest Citadel's laws activating a dormant relay without authorization and upon being confronted with the authority of the Council, the turian fleet, they have chosen to engaged us in battle causing the death of hundreds of good turians." Admiral Varkus shouted as he stood from his position. "I don't know how many of the theories of General Arterius are right, yet one thing remains clear, as the weapon used in this engagement is the same used in the raids of the black fleet pirates, according to the Salarian STG. Under our noses, the "black fleet" has activated a relay on our patrol area and may have operated on this sector for weeks, at the very least." The rest of the officers silently nodded in agreement as they recognized their failures. "We have failed in our duty and we allowed this to happen."

"This cannot stand! We will follow these pirates to their outpost in the other side of the relay 314; and bring them to justice" he sentenced to a chorus of agreement from the room.

"One thing admiral?" Captain Corinius asked with some hesitation, stopping Admiral Varkus in his tracks. "Protocol demands that we inform the Citadel of the activation of any mass relays, shouldn't we inform the Council of our findings and assemble a task force to deal with this situation." He flinched after his last statement while silence has befallen on the room; Captain Corinius have practically accused his commanding officer of disobeying orders.

"I understand your reservations captain Corinius, I share several of them. We will inform the Citadel, but after we find the truth behind this, otherwise we will be known through the turian navy as the patrol fleet which allowed a pirate group to operate in an area under direct Council oversight." He made a pause. "Not to mention, that Citadel bureaucracy is slow, the death of so many good soldiers lost in the first engagement must be answered swiftly and hard! It is time to show these criminals whoever they are, the power of the Turian hierarchy and the Citadel Council!"

XXXXX

 **2155.06.14**

 **Quinhai: Capital of the colony of Shanxi**

 **Eight hours after the first contact with the turian fleet**

Lieutenant General George Williams sat at the briefing room in the military headquarters on Shanxi. In the center of the table a hologram of the Lambda Expanse was being projected. Joining him at the table they were attending in person: the governor of Shanxi, the CEO of the Changhong Colony Development Company and his own second in command Brigadier general Liun Xian. While Lieutenant Ramirez of the CSV Hastings and Commodore Lillian Meltzer, CO of the naval forces in the Fujian-Alpha System, attended via hologram.

All with the exception of Commodore Meltzer and General Xian looked tired and nervous. He had informed the Commonwealth's High Command about the situation, obviously the reaction have been just like he has expected. The politicians have already been informed, and in the High Council on the Erebus Nexus, the parliament and the Prime Minister's office there was already a search for a scapegoat; the long standing plan of development, expansion and consolidation of the Commonwealth before allowing humanity and its ally species to present themselves to the rest of the galaxy had been cut short by decades or maybe centuries, because a greedy company have swing around the Commonwealth's protocols and activated a relay linking to Council Space. Governor Zhang could already see his chances for reelection vanishing in front of his eyes or even the end of his political career as he had signed the document which allowed for the activation of the dormant mass relay, while the CEO of the Changhong company, could see his stock price plummeting, and himself facing public scandal and maybe criminal charges if the politicians chose him as the central guilty figure of this disaster.

But General Williams didn't give a crap about those two, his job and duty was to defend the colony of Shanxi and human controlled space from any outer or inner aggressions, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

"Are we expecting any reinforcements from the Commonwealth's navy?" the Governor asked, General Williams and Commodore Meltzer exchanged looks.

"The fleets have been mobilized already, however for the time being the Commonwealth's navy and the fleets of our allies, are stationed on their respective sectors, awaiting orders to converge on our position." She made a pause, looking up to the general signaling for him to speak.

"The reports of the battle at Zodiac and the current situation have already been reviewed by the High Council, parliament and Prime Minister. Saying that they are upset is an understatement; they do not want to move any asset unless the situation becomes clear." He stood from his seat and look through the window, seeing the capital city around him. The Briefing room was on the highest floor at the top of the 1 kilometer long arcologie on the center of the city of Quinhai, the lives of 1.2 million people rested on his shoulders. "While I don't like that a clear threat to the Commonwealth's security is not answered immediately because of political bureaucracy, the guys on office have a point: We do not know, what the Turians and probably the Citadel Council wants and know about us." Commodore Meltzer pressed a few commands on her data wrist, switching the hologram of the sector to a display showing a more general galactic representation showing the connections between the Lambda Expanse with Shanxi on its center and its connections to the Zodiac Cluster, and Arcturus Stream, showing the location of the Commonwealth's Fifth and sixth fleets on Arcturus Station.

"Opening a relay on citadel controlled space is illegal by the Citadel Council's law. It is probable that the Turians may have opened fire on our survey group, not knowing the true purpose of our ships and their mission. However if they have been able to recovered any data from the civilian ships, or there was an information leak, then we may expect an imminent attack by Council Forces lead by the Turian navy. My Flotilla on this system won't be enough to stop them without reinforcements from the rest of the navy or the remaining flotillas at this sector." Commodore Meltzer made a pause. "Another factor that we need to take into account is the absence of any rift gates in this cluster. In order to provide aid, our fleet will have to move through the relay from the Arcturus stream to this system through the relay."

"Which is exactly one of the reasons why the Changhong Colonial Development Company pushed for the activation of the dormant relay." For the first time, the businessman of Changhong spoke up. "We have been asking for the placement of a Rift Gate for months, but the Parliament and colonial authority answered that this system still lacked enough population and a strong economy to merit the connection to the Rift Gate Network. If they have allowed for any…" he stopped dead on his tracks when he realized that everyone in the room knew where he was going to assign blame.

"For now the priority is the security of this colony and sector, what are you doing to protect the people of Shanxi?" The Governor asked the military officers in the room, sounding almost genuine in his concern for his people. General Williams imputed some new orders on his console.

The hologram highlighted two green and four yellow planets spread over four systems:

-"Here, in Fujian-Alpha system itself, we have the shirt sleeve Chinese colony on Shanxi and the Dome research station on Jiangsu (the non-habitable sister planet of Shanxi).

-"Over in the Fujian-Epsilon System, we have the Kenyan and Nigerian dome colony on Kaduna."

-"In the Fujian-Beta system, we have the Italian and Spanish dome colony on Catalina and the Argentinian and Brazilian dome colony on Karabi."

-"Finally, we have the Indian shirt sleeve colony of New Indus in the Fujian-Delta system."

"All of them have the garrisons appropriate to their world class and population, which I have decided to leave in place. We do not know the enemy's numbers and we have limited Intel on their motivations, capabilities or military doctrine. I have no intention of stripping these worlds of their garrisons to boost the defenses here on Shanxi. Not when we are not even certain that Shanxi will be the enemy's primary target, though I admit it is highly likely to be."

The Governor and CEO didn't fight the decision to do not bring all their available assets to Shanxi, picking on their silence General Williams continued. "Commodore, can you please confirm for us the ships we have available?"

Commodore Meltzer waved her hand at the hologram, suddenly the planets were no longer highlighted, instead the systems were highlighted and a stream of naval data was connected to each one.

"Of course, General. Just like the army, when colonizing a new sector, the navy assigns ships based on a planet class and population. Unlike the army, when the sector is fully colonized and developed these forces will be combined, and more ships added to make up a full fleet, rather than following the army's system of waiting for the worlds to grow too the pre-requisite levels before deploying full armies and army groups. Sector operational battle fleets are assigned control and supervision of a central cluster and its nearby sectors, making use of the rift gate network to answer almost immediately to any threat in their area of operation."

"Here, in this cluster, we have my own Flotilla totaling 65 warships defending the Fujian-Alpha system; another cruiser squadron is assigned to Fujian-Delta system and its shirt sleeve colony, while Beta and Epsilon have only dome worlds. As such they have only been assigned a cruiser detachment of 25 warships each. We also have two sub strength cruiser squadrons of 4 ships and one full strength cruiser squadron of 12 ships patrolling the shipping lanes between all of them."

"My ships are already evacuating the scientific station on the Lagrange point 4 of the system, and the mining station on Lagrange 5 and my flotilla is standing by in close proximity to the relay to Zodiac."

"Commodore, there is no way for the turian forces to know of the other systems in this cluster, correct? They would have to scout each star system in an ever-increasing spherical radius from Fujian-Alpha to find them, just as we did to find the garden worlds in the first place." General Xian was staring intently at the hologram. "Can we not then combine all of the warships into one fleet here in Fujian-Alpha? The only system in the entire Lambda Expanse that we know the aliens will have to attack?"

"That is an accurate assumption General Xian, however while we know for a fact that the Cole Protocol was executed on the frigates operating on Zodiac. The civilian corvette survey team was attacked without warning and may have not time to erase their navigational data." Commodore Meltzer voice showed some concern as she looked back to Lieutenant Ramirez.

"As tempting as it might be to mass all ships here in Theta to meet the alien threat, I do not think that leaving four colonies completely exposed to naval attack is worth the risk. While we have limited information, provided by the Quarians about Turian doctrine, technology and military prowess; we do not know the full extent of their numbers and intentions. If we keep the naval formations separate and the navy is defeated here in Fujian-Alpha, the other systems in the cluster will at least have a chance to analyze the data and plan for the next battle with a viable defense force, alongside reinforcements from the Commonwealth." General Williams nodded to that.

"If we gamble everything on defeating the enemy here in Fujian-Alpha and lose, then there will be no naval forces left to exploit any weaknesses in the enemy's forces or tactics, the entire cluster will be open to naval attack. Commodore, you will have to fight the hostile forces with what you have, meanwhile I will have the colonial militia began evacuating every town and outpost on Shanxi and bring every civilian to the capital as it is the only defendable position. I will contact the Commonwealth's high command through the quantum entanglement communicator and keep a full report of the situation."

"Why does the First Fleet just doesn't come here? And what about our allies?" The scared CEO asked to the rest of the room. "Are we expecting any support from the Rachni, Quarians or Talosians?"

"Mister Changhong, it is not that simple" Commodore Meltzer explained. "This is a hostile first contact, and while protocol demands the calling of fleets and armies to defend this sector, the High Council on Erebus doesn't want a war with the Citadel Council, unless there is no choice. The parliament decisions are slow, and even the prime minister and the cabinet will have to deal with the political backslash if this situation descends on a full scale galaxy-wide conflict." She made a pause. "Speaking of which, protocol demands the sending of the first contact package through the relay."

"While sending the first contact package is standard protocol, the actions of the Turians already classified them as hostile." General Williams stated.

"I understand General, but nearly five decades ago humanity made its first contact with alien life. Now we are either at the brink of war with another space faring civilization or to the chance to present ourselves to the greater galactic community not only as equals, but as a civilization that was ready to bring forth an opened hand in peace, not a close fist in aggression." She took a deep breath and continued. "History will judge us, either as the defenders or aggressors. We must stop this from escalating into a full scale war."

"With all due respect, why do we need to send the first contact package?" the businessman asked with confusion. "We already know the Turian language thanks to the translations matrix provided by the Quarians, shouldn't we just talk to them?"

"It is not that simple mister" General Williams answered. "The standard protocol is to engage in peace talks with the first contact package even with 'Citadel races' because our allies want to keep their roles in the Commonwealth a secret, unless the High Council decides otherwise. The Quarians and Rachni were almost driven to the edge of the extinction before, and they do not have a very good opinion of the Citadel Council, yet they want to avoid hostilities with the Turian, Asari and Salarians. Also the Talosians are for all stands and purposes a synthetic race forbidden under Council law. Our allies will support us, but not if we do not show we are ready to do the same for them and others or act as war mongering people like the krogans or batarians."

"We must do what we can to avoid war" Commodore Meltzer continued. "But we are the leading race of the Commonwealth; we must show we have an olive branch on one hand and a sword in the other: We will strive for peace, yet we will defend our homes."

Everyone in the room nodded in response. History was about to be made.

XXXXX

 **2155.06.17**

 **Escort Carrier CSV Marcus Aurelius, opposite side of the Lambda-Zodiac Mass relay**

 **A few days later**

Commodore Lillian Meltzer stood in front of the holographic map of the CIC of his flagship the Escort Carrier _CSV Marcus Aurelius_. She felt a little tired, she hadn't been able to sleep nor rest in nearly 28 hours.

They have received answer from the Erebus Nexus: While the human Chairman wanted to send the first fleet to help defend Shanxi, military officials had protested against it claiming that the flagship of the Erebus defense fleet wasn't ready yet. Also the Talosian and Kashani Chairmen were not committing forces to the sector unless the a direct threat to the whole of the Commonwealth has been declared, the same went for the Quarians and Rachni, who wanted to avoid any conflict with the Citadel Council.

 _How I wish Admiral Comstock was here_

Meanwhile the parliament was still divided with Chinese representatives claiming that the defense of Shanxi was exclusively a responsibility of the Chinese republic, North America was staying on the sidelines and the other nations like Rapture, the EU, Russia and India didn't want to compromise all of mankind to war, until the lines on the sand have been clearly define.

In the hours since the end of the meeting, her fleet has evacuated most of the personnel of the Dome research station on Jiangsu, human or otherwise. All space stations on the system with the exception of the Shanxi Orbital station in geo stationary orbit above Quinhai have been evacuated. And in the planet itself, the civilian population has taken shelter on the main city, with most women and children being sent to the underground refuges, and the remaining civilian population occupying the center of the city. As General Williams and his army made a defensive perimeter around the Axial City.

A probe containing the first contact package and a plasma charge had been sent through the relay an hour ago. Most of the information from the first contact package like any insight of the location of Earth or the human history had been cut, in order to avoid giving the Turians any data not wanted of the Commonwealth and mankind. The computers in the probe contain an advance AI heuristic code that carried the translator matrix for the English language, as well as a message indicating the Turians to send only seven ships through the relays if they wanted to talk. The probe was designed to self-destruct as soon as the message has been transmitted in order to prevent the capture of human technology and computers.

Despite the delicate situation, Commodore Lillian Meltzer felt good, she was where she needed to be.

Lillian Meltzer had been born on the city of New Rapture on Chiron in the Alpha Centauri system, only child raised by a single father after their mother abandoned them because of her addiction to red sand, fostering a deep hatred inside her. Lillian had been able to channel that hatred and with the help of her dad, she entered into the Commonwealth's military academy on Chiron distinguishing herself as a young and prominent cadet. Climbing through the ranks by participating in simulations and join battle scenarios deployment with the Quarian and Talosian fleet.

Yet they were all simulations, in a few minutes, she may very well become the first human commander to ever engage an alien force since the crew of the CSV Kalypso several decades ago.

Unless the enemy came in large numbers, the odds were in her favor: Quarian intel and the data gathered by the unit of Lieutenant Ramirez had given her a complete preliminary overview of the Turian fleet, its navy's composition, ships and tactics:

-On her command she had a full Flotilla Group, composed by her flagship the Escort Carrier CSV Marcus Aurelius; 9 Baikal Class Heavy Cruisers; 40 Columbia class Destroyers and a wolf pack of 15 Wyvern Class Frigates reinforced by another two Wyvern class and three Phalanx class lead by the CSV Hastings and Lieutenant Ramirez, she had refused to retreat her forces to Arcturus station

-Her AI assistant had already classified the Turian ships sighted on the Zodiac Central System: The standard Turian frigate was 317 meters long, certainly larger that her wyvern class but also slower. The Varhdona Class Turian cruiser was basically a larger version of the Turian Frigate being 535 meters long, yet it was only fifteen meters larger than her Columbia class destroyers. The real issue was the leading Turian Dreadnought being 892 meters long and carrying a main axial gun of more than 50 kilotons, which was serious danger to her destroyers and frigates but not so much against her Baikal class Heavy Cruisers.

-She had organized a standard Commonwealth formation: Her flagship was at the back of the formation accompanied by the frigate reserve, the pilots on her ship were on full alert ready to jump on their fighters, bombers and corvettes and launched from the hangar, with their heavy payload of plasma charges and disruptor torpedoes fully loaded. At the center of the fleet were her 9 Baikal class heavy cruisers. Surrounding them were 20 of her 40-strong cruiser force, while the remaining 20 were split, 10 on each side, forming the curving flanks of her formation.

-The central piece of her formation were the nine Baikal Class heavy cruisers, each being 780 meters long, they were barely bellow the category of Dreadnought by Citadel Standard, all were heavily armored, and they carried powerful mass accelerator cannons and Tiamat mounted weapons.

-Yet her greatest advantage was her position, she had positioned her fleet on the opposite-above side of the Zodiac-Lambda relay. According to Quarian Intel, as Quarian had acquired old Turian ships discontinued or ready to be moth-balled, the Hierarchy's ships armor was lighter on the dorsal and superior body of the ship, Turian ships had heavier armor on their ventral surfaces than on their dorsal ones, as they were designed to support the army during planetary invasions and as such they had to be armored against heavy fire from the surface. Standing above also allowed her ships to target any exposed bridges and subsystems, while allowing most of their ship guns to unleash their entire firepower on the enemy fleet.

"Relay is showing activity!" Comms reported before sending out the fleet wide call to battle stations.

"Prepare for combat, Action stations, set condition 1 throughout the ship!" she called through the general communication.

 _If there are more than seven ships, coming through the relay and they refused to answer our hails, a lot of blood and fire is going to stain the void._

XXXXX

 **2155.06.17**

 **Zodiac Central System, relay 314**

Admiral Varkus stood on the bridge of his banner ship the Hierarchy War Ship _Implacable_ , his anger over this criminal group had grown in the last few hours, in a last desperate attempt to stop his forces these pirates had sent some kind of probe loaded with an AI heuristic cyber weapon.

Thankfully his cyber warfare officer had caught the completely unknown programming language and flagged it as a threat, preventing any damage, but when his ships moved in to search the satellite broadcasting it, the probe had self-destructed in a blue plasma fireball.

Whether that had been an attempt to prevent its recovery or most probably a poorly constructed mine designed to take down any ship tasked with capturing it. The presence of a cyber-weapon and the use of a mine in close proximity to the relay was a treacherous affront to naval warfare had completely infuriated his crews and subordinates.

He was ready to send at least half of his fleet led by his dreadnought banner ship through the relay. Hopefully seeing 200 Turian Warships and a dreadnought would be enough to convince these criminals to stand down or face annihilation.

It was a massive overkill but after the loss of so many ships against ten enemy frigates, he needed as many ship as possible to face whatever surprise these criminals had stored from him.

His subordinates were determined and ready, as they wanted to avenge the death of so many Turian brothers and sisters; as well as regaining their honor: If General Arterius was right, his fleet had allowed a pirate group to operate on a Council controlled space for months, it could mean the end of their careers if they do not capture whoever had been responsible for all of this.

Despite all that, a creeping seed of doubt has begun to grow around his spine, wrecks recovered from the destroyed enemy frigates had shown little technical insights, as there was little to recovered of engines or computers, but his engineering team was fascinated by the armor plating of the last frigate, it was an alloy unknown to any race, stronger than diamond or any metal and highly resistant. Yet the most puzzling item recovered had been a piece of a dorsal wing which contained a symbol or brand of some kind painted on the metal: A strange tower painted in golden yellow inside a circle, on a white and blue rectangle surrounded by four circles. He had never seen that symbol before, neither the codex. There was something that just didn't add up.

After an hour the joined fleet had assumed formation and was ready to transit through the unknown relay.

Two hundred ships lead by the _HWS Implacable_ were going to jump through the relay while the remaining two hundred ships including the troop transports of the eighth legion will be waiting in the Narraste Stream Cluster making it appear as if his fleet was still on regular patrol.

As the rings around element zero core on the center of the mass relay began to spin faster the entire fleet spear headed by the _Implacable_ was swung across a distance of light years in a field of black matter.

XXXXX

Just as his ship finished the transition to the new system, Admiral Varkus braced himself for the deceleration as they exited the relay, but he was sent sprawling across the deck as the _Implacable_ was rocked more violently than any relay transition could cause.

"Admiral, we are under fire!" his tactical officer shouted.

Before he could even asked the status of the ship, the dreadnought rocked violently again and the lights on the bridge flickered. A second later the tactical holographic display began to show the fleet disposition and situation.

"Status?" he asked with anger on his voice.

"The entire fleet is under fire! Source is 180 degrees lateral by 45 degrees above. Our ships are accelerating and trying to come about to face them." Sensors called out finally clarifying the situation, even if their voice was tinged with horror at the fact that their opponents had an unobstructed shot at their sterns.

In the hologram display, turian cruisers were still appearing as the crossed the relay only to be destroyed as soon as heavy firepower went through their barriers and armor like if they were paper, all around the area around the relay fragments and debris floated around, all of turians ships.

"It's taking too long to accelerate from a standing start and to make the turn, multiple ships reporting kinetic barrier failures, 36 ships already confirmed destroyed or disabled." Comms reported bluntly. Getting a shot at a warship's stern was every commander's dream, and the enemy forces firing on them were taking full advantage.

The turian ships sluggishly tried to turn to face them, but their low starting speed was seriously hampering their maneuverability, and the enemy guns kept firing.

The ship rocked again as the sound of the engines cut out for a second before coming back weaker. Several crewmembers glanced at Damage Control, wondering how bad the damage was.

"Severe damage to engines 4 and 5, stable velocity reduced by 25%. Our cruiser escort is covering us from the pirate ship's fire, but our speed and maneuverability are severely degraded, Admiral."

"Enemy numbers confirmed: 20 frigates, 40 cruisers and…10 dreadnoughts?" Tactical called up in shock.

"Confirm that!" The Admiral snapped.

"Regular enemy cruiser is 520 meters long, confirmed presence of nine 780 meters long warships and a single 1100 meters long dreadnought, yet the last ship is not firing upon us, it is most likely some mobile star base."

The Sensors officer spoke up in relief as the tactical plot finally showed some good news for the Turian fleet. "The first frigate and cruiser squadrons have completed their turns; they are now returning fire with their main guns." Admiral Varkus watch the holographic display with concern it was only a reduce group as the unknown vessels were aiming as the engines of any Turian ship that has finished transition through the relay, many of his ships had been immobilized and many more were outright destroyed. "Pirates forces are maintaining formation and rate of fire."

"These are no Pirates, nor the black fleet." Admiral Varkus re-established control over the wave of reports. "Re-designate enemy warships as military opponents and inform all ships to expect them to act as such."

That caused the banner bridge to go silent the only sounds were the roar of the remaining engines at full power. The Comms officer finally broke the shocked silence and spoke up "Admiral, if they are not pirates should we not open communications?"

"It is too late for that, crewman. We are in the middle of a battle any changes will have to wait until we are no longer under fire. Launch all fighters and begin an attack run with all ships that have completed their turns. All remaining forces are to form up upon completing their own turns and prepare to follow the first wave in. We are to open fire as soon as Implacable has a firing solution. Also order every ship to deploy their contingent of fighters and engage the enemy."

"Yes Admiral, transmitting orders."

He focused the holographic display at the enemy ships: Their profiles were like nothing he had ever seen before; they look sturdy but elegant sharing a similar yet not identical shape between the ships types, forty small cruisers and nine small size dreadnoughts at the center of the formation were directing fire on his fleet. This wasn't a pirate group. It wasn't a mercenary group either, which left only one option for so many large ships of unknown design. He had encountered a new race and his actions had hidden them from the Citadel's diplomatic corps.

To make matters worse, under his orders, the Second Patrol Fleet had fired on their scouting force, attacked their escort ships, invaded their space, and had now, just to make sure there was no way left to salvage the situation, engaged one of their main fleets in open warfare.

The shame in his gut burned hotter as he suddenly remembered the 'cyber-weapon' with the completely unknown programming language that had been broadcast at his fleet. Far from a malicious attack, it now seemed likely that it had actually been some sort of first contact package used as a last attempt to try and resolve the Second Patrol Fleet's attacks peacefully.

He had responded by taking the whole fleet through the relay.

 _Spirits take me,_ he said to himself

Another shot from one of the alien dreadnoughts was felt across the ship

"Kinetic barriers below 60%. Our cruiser defense line is being decimated." His tactical officer shouted in distress, before announcing better news. "Fighters have been deployed."

He was hoping his fighters could tip the balance, the battle was not going on their favor: for any ship that had been able to turn and returned fire to the enemy ships, they were at least four more that had been either cripple or destroyed. Not to mention the enemy vessels seem to be equal in technology to his, the enemy ships kinetic barriers flared and their armor received impacts, but few of them seem to be suffering serious damage.

"Our fighters are approaching enemy fleet and preparing to attack, entering enemy guardian range in 20 seconds." Tactical reported.

"Admiral enemy mobile base is deploying its fighter compliment" his scanner officer shouted. In an instant the tactical hologram switched to a closer view of the kilometer long star base, fighters and corvettes alike were being spited out of the maws of the vessel like a group of insects abandoning their nest.

As his 600 fighters approached the enemy fleet, the enemy smaller vessels converged to meet them.

"Spirits! Casualties, multiple casualties! Fighters are taking heavy guardian fire." Tactical practically screamed in horror as friendly transponders winked off the tactical display at an astounding rate. "Enemy corvettes seem to carry highly advance Gardian Arrays."

Admiral Varkus watched in horror as his fighters were blinking out of existence, under the fierce fire of the enemy corvettes. He had never seen anything like that, not even the salarians made use of such an advance laser system and targeting algorithm.

"Fighter force down to 450 vessels" his tactical officer shouted in shock, before acquiring even a more concern look. "Enemy frigate group has divided into two groups of ten converging on our fleet from the flanks." The hologram once again switched to general view of the battlefield.

"Send our frigates to intercept them, and ordered all the ships that had been able to turn to concentrate fire on the dreadnoughts, one of them must be the banner ship." He ordered.

"Admiral, enemy fighter group has overwhelmed our fighter squad and is converging on our direction." Comm officer shouted in shock.

The enemy commander was trying to take his dreadnought out of the fight before he had been able to turn and aim his main gun on its forces. He nodded in respect to his opponent, as his cruiser and frigate group close in to support him.

"Frigate group is suffering tremendous casualties; the enemy frigates are heavily armed yet too maneuverable for our cruisers to fix aim properly." His comm officer shouted.

"Prepare torpedoes and target the frigates, we cannot let them unleash that energy beam on our cruisers" he ordered.

"Enemy fighters in proximity guardian arrays are performing targeting solutions" the tactical officer advised.

The enemy fighters while numerous and maneuverable were being target and shoot out of existence by the Turian point defense cannons, yet many of them had been able to released their cargo of disruptor missiles before being destroyed. In an instant five more turian cruisers and eight frigates vanished from existence under the bombardment round, the last enemy fighter group released their remaining torpedoes on the three remaining engines of the HWS Implacable.

The vessel was shock like a boat on a storm, Admiral Varkus could watch in the hologram display that his defense line had been broken and the only turian vessel capable of switching the tide of the battle was dead in the water.

"Admiral enemy ships are moving, attempting to close range with." his tactical officer shouted, half scare, half confuse. Admiral Varkus look at the holographic display in confusion. It was clear his opponent was a competent commander, and the tactical advantage in a space battle was measured by the rank of a ships gun. Closing in to an opponent left you vulnerable to short range weapons and point defense systems while also leaving you with less room to maneuver.

Despite the state of his banner ship, a portion of his fleet remain intact, most of the enemy frigates had been destroyed and his remaining ships were firing upon the enemy, taking down a few enemy cruisers.

He watched to his delight as one of the enemy dreadnoughts blow up out of existence under Turian firepower, but the remaining eight began to deploy some kind of contraption on their underbellies.

His confusion turned to dread when eight beams of light were fire from the enemy leading ships taking down eight turian cruisers in an instant, after a few seconds of recharge in which the rest of the enemy vessels cannons continued to rage on, another eight beams of light take down eight more of his ships.

"Order whatever remaining frigate unit in operation to head for the relay" he shouted to his confused crew. "We need to warn the Hierarchy and the Council, we might have just awakened a sleeping thrasher maw. The Intel from this battle must be made known to the Citadel for them to prepare a capable defense." His crew switched to action, feeling him with a sense of pride, despite the dread of the situation.

Under intense turian fire another enemy dreadnought was destroyed, but it was too late. The three leading ships of the formation maneuver to aim their energy cannon on the center of the Turian fleet.

 _What have I done?_ Admiral Varkus thought.

In an instant three full powered Tiamat cannons were fire on the _HWS Implacable_ , in a flash of light comparable to a supernova, the ship exploded. For the very first time in nearly a millennia a Turian dreadnought had been destroyed in battle.

XXXXX

 **2155.06.17**

 **Escort Carrier CSV Marcus Aurelius**

"Turian flagship destroyed" the tactical officer of the escort carrier shouted with joy.

"Understood! Order our cruisers to mop up the remaining the remaining active Turian ships but do not fire upon the cripple or disable vessels. We need to secure as many prisoners officers as possible for Intel purposes" she ordered.

In just a few minutes the remaining Turian cannons fell silent, before transports of marine detachments selected the most intact alien vessels to begin boarding operations.

The battle was over; humanity's first engagement with an alien species has ended in victory, for the very first time in what seems like days, Commodore Meltzer released a heavy sight.

"Maintain the defensive formation, if any new vessels came through the relay I want to be ready." She ordered to her crew, before coming to the report she was dreading. "Casualties report."

Her flag lieutenant Steven Hacket began listing the lost ships:

"We lost fourteen destroyers; twenty more are suffering several grades of damage; 2 heavy cruisers; sixteen frigates including the CSV Hastings." He made a pause in honor of Lieutenant Ramirez and her crew. "As well as 87 fighter-bombers and 17 corvettes."

She swallowed hard thinking about all those men and women who had died under her command, but she looked at the holographic display on the center of the CIC, fragments of alien ships floated around the fifteen kilometer long mass relay. With only seventy ships they had face a fleet of more than two hundred Turian warships, supposedly the greatest military power on the galaxy, and they had been victorious.

"Order our support ships to recover any life pods from our vessels and to capture any from the enemy, ensure medical support is provided to everyone, but make the necessary security arrangements to ensure the safety and security of the prisoners." She said to the entire CIC.

Watching the holographic display once more she accessed the Intercom.

"Attention all ships, this is Commodore Lillian Meltzer" She said through the intercom causing the entire CIC and every crewman in the fleet to freeze in place. "Today an alien force came to our territory, thinking they would find another primitive race for them to humble into submission or another client species for them to exert control. Yet against superior numbers and against the so call best fighting force in the galaxy, the Human Navy was victorious!" she declared with passion on her voice, bringing a wave of cheers from the CIC and every corner of the fleet. "You are all a source of pride for the System Commonwealth's navy and this battle shall be remembered through human history as the day people from different nations and colonies, yet all wearing the same uniform stood united and said in one voice: WE ARE HUMAN! AND WE WILL FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHT TO EXIST!" another wave of cheers even louder than before burst across the fleet. "BUT" she made a pause in a deadly serious tone, stopping the cheers and replacing them with silence. "We lost a lot of good people, men and women who served with distinction, and shall be remembered. And three Turian frigates were able to jump through the relay. The Turian Hierarchy and the Citadel Council, whatever they may be their intentions will return in greater numbers; and we will be ready. Terra Aeternum."

"TERRA AETERNUM" was repeated across the fleet, in deadly serious tones, yet lace with determination.

 **CODEX:**

 **-Commonwealth s navy formations and composition:**

 **Formations:**

During the First Contact War (2155), the Commonwealth's navy had already developed highly advance military doctrines; focusing on mobility, endurance and the use of technology and non-regular tactics to face against greater numbers and firepower.

The influence of Quarian engineering and Talosian technology as well as human understanding of naval warfare made the Human fleet to distinguish greatly with the fleets of other races. While Turian, salarians and Asari preferred to standardize their entire navies in fleets of frigates, cruisers and the rare sight of dreadnoughts with the last being more than anything a "larger version of their cruiser", the humans preferred to give their navy a greater level of versatility and efficiency yet perhaps sacrificing uniformity by adding three new vessel types into their fleet: the heavy cruiser, the escort carrier and the fleet carrier.

The first is meant to be a middle term between a cruiser and a dreadnought while also allowing a considerable reduction in cost in ship production by making the light cruiser or destroyer the basic unit of their navy. The escort carrier is the "centurion" of the standard Commonwealth Flotilla, a carrier does not rely on its main guns like a dreadnought instead it serves like a mobile command center for the flotilla, and small attack vessels deployment carrier. The last ship is also the only type of vessel that exist in even smaller numbers than dreadnoughts, the fleet carrier is the central ship of the regular Sector wide Commonwealth Battle fleet, and its immense compliment of fighters and bombers capable of attacking any position at distances of light years make it perhaps even more dangerous than the largest dreadnought.

Human vessels also rarely operated alone, preferring to organize in tight well coordinate formations. The only vessel in the human navy that operates alone is the stealth reconnaissance frigate.

…

 **-Frigate wolf pack:** (5 ships):

5 frigates

…

 **-Cruiser squadron:** (4-12 ships):

Sub Strength: 4 destroyers

Full strength: 6 destroyers; 1 heavy cruiser; 5 frigates

…

 **-Cruiser detachment:** (18-25 ships):

Sub Strength: 10 destroyers; 3 heavy cruisers; 5 frigates

Full strength: 12 destroyers; 3 heavy cruisers; 10 frigates

…

 **-Flotilla group:** (32-65 ships):

Sub Strength: 5 heavy cruiser; 17 destroyers; 10 frigates

Full strength: 1 escort carrier; 9 heavy cruisers; 40 destroyers; 15 frigates

…

 **-Battle fleet:** 523/653 ships:

8 flotillas: 72 heavy cruisers; 320 cruisers; 120 frigates; 8 escort carrier; 2 dreadnoughts; 1 fleet carrier

10 flotillas: 90 heavy cruisers; 400 destroyers; 150 frigate; 10 escort carrier; 2 dreadnoughts; 1 fleet carrier

 **-Rift Gate Network – Logistic and strategic system:** A standard rift gate is in simple terms a combination of a hadron collider with a tear opening Lutece Device. Ranging from 1 or 2 kilometers in diameter up to 8, a rift gate can transport an entire fleet of star ships from its position to another site light year away, as long as the rift gate can generate enough power and target precise coordinates. This last issue is the most critical logistic and strategic remark of the rift gates, a gravity field (be it a planet, a moon or even a decent size asteroid) is needed to "anchor" the "tear" in the space time continuum that serves as the "exit" for the portal created by the rift gate; in order to address this problem and reduce the expend of energy (reducing the time for a rift gate to recharge after creating an opening) another rift gate must be position in the intended coordinates creating a rift lane connecting the two points of space. This is only possible if the second rift gate stands compatible to the other: for example a rift gate two kilometers in length cannot connect to a 3 kilometer long rift gate; but the larger the rift gate is, the longer its effective range becomes. Also the Commonwealth's navy makes use of Gravity well generators which serves as "beacons" and "anchors" for any rift portal; allowing them to "summon" a rift portal anywhere in the galaxy that is in range to a rift gate.

Unlike the mass effect relays, the rift gates have several differences: the primary being that the rift gates are not "bounded" one to the other, every rift gate is equipped with a powerful fully sentient IA and control terminal that programs and calculates the intended exit and connections between rift gates, allowing the network to be far more flexible and versatile, like it is the case with the Erebus Nexus which contains several mounted rift gates and can connect to every one of them no matter the distance because the power output of the station is so massive that can stabilize a "tear" in almost any point of the galaxy. It is also worth mentioning that the transfer between coordinates even by lengths of thousands of light years is instantaneous as there is no time lag between transfers.

 **-Columbia Class Destroyer:** The basic front line ship of the Commonwealth's fleet, the Columbia class light cruiser 520 meters in length and carrying a crew compliment of 450 including a marine detachment. Commissioned by the Hephaestus heavy engineering corps the Columbia was the first ship in a massive modernization program following project Yggdrasil, instead of the bulky delta shape Razor class vessel, the Columbia combines modular armor plating on the upper side and engines with the axial mounted main gun and the ships central body in the lower side. With several light mass accelerator cannons placed above and below giving the ship the capability to continue firing upon the enemy even in retreat or in high risk maneuvers. As most Commonwealth ships, the Columbia is an FTL capable vessel and it is equipped with Guardian arrays point defense systems. Commonwealth's destroyers are named after Earth cities.

 **-Baikal Class Heavy Cruiser:** Also born after the last modernization program and project Yggdrasil, the first Baikal class was constructed in the orbital dry-docks of the planet Volga. Nearly as powerful and perhaps just as resilient as a dreadnought the Baikal class heavy cruiser is 780 meters long and carries a crew of 750. Its main gun and Tiamat cannon makes it one of the most fear vessels of the Commonwealth's navy. Commonwealth's heavy cruisers are named after Earth lakes.

 **-Cicerón Class Escort Carrier:** The last vessel born after the modernization program of the navy, the Ciceron class stands as a symbol of the technological and military might of the System Commonwealth. At a length of 1100 meters and a crew of 1600 personal, the Ciceron is a colossus in which its lack of heavy weapons with the exception of missiles and its guardian array defense system is offset by its considerable cargo of smaller attack vessels. Yet the most important attribute of the Ciceron is the presence of one of the most valuable and advance artifacts ever developed by the System Commonwealth, a Lutece Rift Siphon which enables the ship to directly link to the rift gate network and stabilize a tear in its position capable of connecting to either a regular set of coordinates or any nearby rift gates, without gravity well anchors or a rift gate of any type. The Escort Carriers are named after famous generals or figures from human history.

 **It has been a while; I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. It took me a lot of time to finish it. I was greately inspired by two other magnificent Fanfics: The Fourth Council Race » by Knight Vigilant Koren; and Mass Effect: A new past » by Bombsquad.**

 **As always I own nothing, I hope I will be able to continue with this story**


	8. Chapter 6: First Encounters

**Chapter 6: First Encounters**

 **It has been awhile, I was busy studying hard; I have officially graduated from College and received my title of Architect, so as now I am on holiday.**

 **Hopefully this will mean that I shall be able to update this story more periodically, I would like to thank all the feedback from the last chapter. I know many of you are impatient for the political encounter between the Commonwealth and the Citadel Council, but the First Contact War was a pivotal moment on Mass Effect Cannon so some elements must remain the same for story purposes. Also I will try to enrich the world as much as I can, and answer your questions with each chapter.**

 **2155.06.20**

 **Palaven, Turian High Command**

General Desolas Arterius listened to the report of the only survivors from the battle at the relay 314 with barely disguised contempt. He had always known Admiral Varkus to being weak willed, but he never thought he could be that stupid to lose half of his entire fleet including his own banner ship to the unknown enemy ships. The recording from the battle reach only to the destruction of the HWS Implacable by the enemy light dreadnoughts, at that point the three survivor frigates were able to turn towards the relay and escape.

The destruction of more than half of the Krogan DMZ patrol fleet had shocked even the Primarch.

"This newly discovered species seem to possess a powerful fleet. What more can you tell us about them, did you manage to learn anything of the system they were defending?" General Orinia from the 8° Legion asked the commanding officer of the survivor frigate a Lieutenant Naolin.

"Our preliminary scan indicated the presence of a single garden class world on the system alongside several artificial stations." He made a pause. "It is clear the unknown fleet was tasked with protecting the system or perhaps the entire cluster."

The holographic display that had been showing the battle and the observations of the unknown ships soon turned to display the green planet scanned from distance by the Turian fleet. The planet itself looked unremarkable, just another small size garden world, without any indications of massive urbanization or settlement, clearly a small size colony in early stages, not even near the industrial power a species homeworld must be to sustain the ship building capabilities necessary to produce those ships.

"What about the enemy ships, what does our analysis tell us about their design and military doctrine?" The Primarch asked, to the engineering and military team assigned to investigate.

"After analyzing the recordings from the battle we can confirm that this species rely on the standard formations of frigates and cruisers, however after further studies we can confirm that the 780 meters long warship previously designated as Dreadnought or light Dreadnought is most likely a middle term between a small regular cruiser and a fully size modern dreadnought: A heavy cruiser in simple terms." The lead analyst made a pause before continuing. "This type of ship in particular has not been seen or produce since the fall of the Quarian Federation after the Geth rebellion centuries ago."

"And as for the largest unknown ship, designated before as Mobile Starbase; we believe this ship must be in fact a non-armed capital ship tasked with carry small combat vessels into battle" the reaction of the room was of downright confusion.

"Why would a species with the technological and industrial capabilities to build a full size dreadnought rely instead on a non-armed carrier vessel" Desolas Arterius found himself asking.

"Well general" the analyst answered. "It very likely that this species like us is aware of the destructive power of a kilometer long dreadnought and axial gun; preferring instead to relegate the 'big gun' task of the fleet to the cheaper and less destructive Heavy Cruiser while giving the role of commanding vessel or banner ship to this 'Carrier Ship' which relies on its compliment of strike craft to fight instead of its weapons."

"Enough with this!" General Orinia shouted bringing the attention of the whole room towards her. "We have lost half of an entire patrol fleet including a spirits dammed Dreadnought, we need to retaliate with overwhelming force against this primitives. Show them the full might of the Turian Hierarchy and avenge the deaths of our turian brothers and sisters."

Everyone in the room held silence.

"Are you asking the Hierarchy to declare war on a species we do not know anything about?" Admiral Nyreen Survan asked indignation clearly on her voice.

"Dr Ortanion does your team manage to recover anything from their first contact package?" The Primarch asked.

"Actually yes, Primarch, despite the fact that the information transmitted by the alien probe was either quarantined or erased after Admiral Varkus communication officer classified as a Cyber-attack. We managed to recover some information from the computer of the surviving frigate Varrikan. While the code containing the language of this species was too degraded, we were able to recover some images and messages."

The hologram display began showing two pair of creatures both very similar to the Asari, one of them look like a male with a muscular body and an anatomy similar to an asari or drell; five fingers on each hand, two eyes, growing hair on their heads probably an species evolved to resist extreme cold temperatures. The female of the species look more refined and almost indistinguishable in anatomy from a regular Asari.

"This species call themselves Humans apparently; we do not know if they are levo or dextro base species nor the nature of their culture and society. We were also able to locate an image of this planet in particular." The image of another garden world with an ocean coverage over 70% of the planet surface. "We believe this must be their homeworld, they call it Earth or Terra, as the translator must have decoded the literal translation to the name of the planet."

"Well these humans as whatever they call themselves have declared war on the Turian Hierarchy and the Citadel Council." General Orinia stated.

"With all due respect Admiral, it was Admiral Varkus the one that decided to attack this species survey group, ignore their first contact package and crossed the relay directly to invade their territory." Admiral Survan stated. "We must send a report of this to the Council in order to prepare a diplomatic mission and fix this disaster before we have a full scale war in our talons."

"There is already a war, this aliens defeated an entire Turian fleet and dreadnought with relative ease. If we do not strike hard and strike fast, they may think we are an easy prey and attack us. Not to mention that if these aliens were able to recover any Intel from the computers and systems from Admiral Varkus destroyed fleet, they may know almost everything of us, from the strength of our ships and fleets to the location of Palaven and the Citadel. We must make a counterattack and find everything about these humans and their military capabilities as well as avenge our fallen comrades." General Orinia stated. "Most importantly the fact that the humans position a ship longer than a kilometer long and nine small dreadnoughts or heavy cruisers then that must mean their homeworld is located close to this colony, perhaps in the same or nearby cluster. If we take this system swiftly and destroy this fleet we may be able to force a complete unconditional surrender from them."

"Unconditional surrender?" another Admiral asked. "What are we… Krogan? We are the peacekeeper force of the Council, we do not seek war; we prevent them."

"While I do share your sentiments Admiral Victus, General Orinia has a good point, not to mention that General Arterius report mention that the powerful direct energy weapon used by the Pirate Black Fleet on the attacks at the Attican Traverse is very similar to the one these humans have installed on their frigates and heavy cruisers. These humans had either provided the technology for the pirates of the terminus system or vice versa, it is clear we are not dealing with a primitive species on an earlier stage of colonization. This is an empire in consolidation, with advance technology and tactics. We are dangerously low on information about this species and the defeat of Admiral Varkus fleet leaves us in precarious position with the Council." The Primarch stated scratching his chin with his long talons.

"That is what we must find answers!" General Desolas Arterius shouted as he stood up calling up the attention of the whole room. "These aliens, these humans have killed our brother and sisters, and humiliated the Hierarchy. We are Turians, we defeated the Krogan, and we had ensured a thousand years of peace for the galaxy. Whoever their values and reach may be, it is clear we are dealing with a species completely ignorant of galactic law. For the wellbeing of the Hierarchy and the Citadel Council, these humans must be shown their place."

For a moment everyone keep silence, looking at the arrogant General Arterius with a degree of agreement.

"We won't go to war just for the lack of information and simple pride; but we must show our strength if we are to rectify this situation." The Primarch finally sentenced. "Admiral Survan shall lead the Eleventh Fleet alongside Admiral Victus's Tenth Fleet, as well as the remains of the Second DMZ patrol fleet and General Orinia's Eight Legion. You are to establish first contact with this race; the full strength of two turian fleets will be enough to force their surrender." He made a pause. "If they resist you have authorization to occupy the garden world and find everything you can about this species: Economy, military, technological capabilities, government and culture. I will send a full report to the Council and explain the situation; if the humans have any connection to the Terminus Black Fleet then our actions are entirely justifiable." He made a pause and took a deep breath. "May the spirits watch over us."

XXXXX

 **2155.06.21**

 **CSV Arbela, detention deck**

Kioren Platinus wanted to die; only spirits knew how long he and the rest of his Turian brothers and sisters had been trapped in this spirits curse alien vessel, they have disabled their omni tools and the absence of a clear time pattern prevented them from knowing the passage of time. For the standard rotation of shifts between their guards, he and the rest of his turian brethren had calculated that at least four rotations had passed since their capture. Kioren's mandibles and teeth clenched in rage as he remembered the events subsequent to the ambush near the newly activated mass relay.

XXXXX

 **2155.06.17 (a few days ago)**

 **Turian Cruiser** _ **HWS Nurrukan**_

Once the Implacable had been destroyed, it was just a matter of time before the remaining Turians ships fell down as well. Luckily for the young Turian soldier, the cruiser in which he was onboard had been targeted carefully by the unknown warships: they had lost their weapons and propulsion but life support system and the hull had been left intact. A few hours after communications reported the departure of transport ships from the enemy cruisers a transmission was broadcast all across the ship.

" _Attention alien crews, this is Commodore Lillian Meltzer commanding officer of this System defense flotilla. We have hacked into your computers and translated your language; I am speaking to the remaining officers and crewmen present in the name of the Systems Commonwealth and the Human Federation. Listen! Your fleet has been defeated and your remaining ships have been crippled. Whoever you are, it was your fleet the one which invaded our territory and attacked our survey group in the nearby cluster; please understand our intentions were to protect this system from outsiders. A lot of casualties have been inflicted on both sides; many have died in this battle, we have no intentions to add more dead into the pile. We are currently sending boarding units to secure your remaining vessels. Stand down and surrender, all of you will be imprison but not mistreated and you will eventually be release if your government negotiates an end of hostilities. Stand down, and do not resist our forces!"_

Some of his fellow Turians wanted to accept the offer believing this aliens may honor their word, yet most of them were still determined to fight while also believe this humans may be pirates or savages. In Kioren's ship the Turian soldiers entrenched themselves in the critical areas of the vessel: the engineering deck, the armory and the Bridge; as soon as they get confirmation that the boarding crafts had pierced the hull, everyone prepared for combat. Minutes felt like hours as they received reports from every corner of the ship that the alien soldiers were advancing through the vessel killing or capturing the crew.

As they lost contact with engineering, Kioren and his fellow turians prepared to defend the bridge to the last soldier. An ominous silence fell down over the room when they lost contact with the rest of the ship, and the internal sensors confirmed that the enemy was right outside the door. There were only two entrances to the bride and every weapon on the room was aiming towards them, ready to kill whatever came through.

Yet the attack didn't came in front of them but from behind, an anomaly similar to a biotic's warp appeared behind their position in an edge of the bridge, it was like a twister of energy and white lightning that spited two metallic cylinder shape objects. Despite the shock from the anomaly, Kioren's instincts and training told him to ran and take cover; those were grenades no matter from where they came.

As the grenades exploded creating a smoke curtain, Kioren could sworn something else came through the anomaly even with his sight obstructed by the smoke. He was proved right when enemy fire came from the other side of the bridge; the distinct sound of mass accelerator rounds which killed two standing turians before the rest could even react accompanying them. The turian defenders quickly changed their covering positions before returning fire, the enemy soldiers in the bridge took cover themselves.

Kioren managed to land a few hits on one the enemy commandos but their kinetic barriers sustained his shots. There were 12 turians alive on the bridge against only 3 unknown soldiers, but these were unlike any soldiers Kioren had seen before, all of them wear pitch black armors with red stripes and protective masks on their heads which hide their features, one of them seem different that the other two, slim and with asari like body shape. A turian soldier asked for cover fire which Kioren provided as his comrade threw a grenade, yet the explosive was stop in midair by a yellow aura before the grenade returned to its thrower.

"They have a biotic, killed it now!" the captain shouted as the turian next to Kioren was blown to bits.

As Kioren's ears ringed like a bell because of the grenade, the bridge was shock like if the ship itself was under fire.

A metal beast even bigger than a Krogan had barged into the room simply smashing through the metal door and sending it flying through the bridge. Compared to that iron beast even a krogan look gentle, an enormous helmed with a dozen bright eyes stood as its head, heavy boots trampled on the floor, and a metal drill was on its right arm.

Everyone turned to shoot the metal beast but the creature was unbelievable fast by its size, charging fast at the closest turian and unleashing a powerful kinetic blast like a biotic vanguard that shock every turian close to it.

The crew watched in horror as the creature buried its drill in the chest of a turian soldier, piercing through kinetic barrier, armor and his metallic carapace with ease, creating a horrific eruption of blue blood from the corpse.

Kioren furiously fired his pistol at the creature until he ran out of ammunition but the creature's barriers resisted. Terror replaced fury once more as his eyes caught glimpse of two more iron creatures coming through the gate, similar yet no identical to the first, both of them were less bulky yet just as tall and in their huge hands instead of drills they were enormous guns that look like heavy riffles.

One turian was killed from only one shot from the two creatures guns, the soldier kinetic barriers merely flared before an enormous hole appeared on the Turian's chest, piercing the armor like if it was made of rubber.

As Kioren recharged his gun, one of the enemy commandos took advantage of the iron creatures attack and moved to flank him; before he could even fire at them the asari looking enemy began summoning electric sparks from her left hand. In an instant a current of electricity went through Kioren's body, his muscles constrained and it felt like his carapace was on fire, as a sheering pain touched every one of his nerves.

The last think he saw as he slip from consciousness was one of the iron creatures holding the Nurrukan's captain by the throat and hitting him against the bulkhead until he move no longer.

XXXXX

 **2155.06.23**

 **Escort Carrier CSV Marcus Aurelius**

 **Orbit of Shanxi; Lambda Expanse**

The past few days had been the longest in the life of Lieutenant Steven Hackett of the CSV Marcus Aurelius. After the battle of the Lambda-Zodiac Relay was over, the main task was securing the remaining intact Turian ships.

Construction and repair drones were sent from the Aurelius to thinker with the intact ship exposed subsystems, hacking their firewalls and security in order to lay an effective operation for tacking those ships and disabling the self-destruct procedures, as well as broadcasting a message to the crews of the Turian vessels.

Boarding teams lead by Praetorian and Special Forces Units had been able to take control of the disabled Turian cruisers with relatively low casualties. Yet despite their best efforts, only a reduce number of Turians had surrender upon hearing Commodore Meltzer's message and only when they were surrounded and outmatch. A part of Steven Hackett seems to respect that about the Turians; they had fought well and hard, up to the last man standing. The boarding tactics perfected in drills by the Commonwealth's navy had been put to the test and they had proven to be quite successful in a real life scenario for the time in history. Praetorian units had led the assault groups while the Special Forces made use of the carefully positioned Rift Portals opened from the Aurelius and the rest of the human ships to appear behind enemy positions and strike hard at the entrenched Turians.

I was not without cost however, in one of the Turian cruisers, the crew of the ship had placed explosives on the hull of the vessel, when the boarding team made its assault they blew the bulkhead and sent half of their own people and every human not equipped with a praetorian suit and magnetic boots was sent flying into the void. A few soldiers managed to survive the depressurization, but many others died.

In the end they had been able to capture a good number of Turian officers and several crewmen and soldiers. In other news, the victory at the Battle of the Relay had convinced both the politics and Fleet Command to act; fleets had been mobilized with the Fifth and Sixth fleet assembling at Arcturus station; the first order of business was to transfer all the damage ships, captured Turian ships and wounded personal to the nearest star base; as well as sending all the critical prisoners to Arcturus to be interrogated.

Highcom was convinced that this was just the beginning and it was very likely that the Citadel Council upon hearing the disastrous encounter the Turian fleet had sustained was going to send a diplomatic party to establish a proper first contact. In the Arcturus Stream upon finishing preparations the Fourth and Fifth fleets were to be sent to the Fujian-Alpha System in order to protect Shanxi for any further attacks. As a first wave of reinforcements two full strength cruisers detachments had arrived at Fujian-Alpha, in order to replace those ships lost or damage at the battle.

With 5 of their remaining 26 destroyers sent through the Shanxi-Theta Relay to the star base at the Theta Nebula in the nearby cluster for repairs; their current fleet with their reinforcements stood a total of 83 ships: 1 Escort Carrier; 13 Heavy Cruisers; 45 Destroyers and 24 Frigates.

"Lieutenant, the Lambda-Zodiac Relay is showing activity!" The scanning officer shouted, as the entire CIC crew focused on the holographic map now three objects exiting the relay.

They looked like bulky cylinders; most likely some sort of prove instead of a starship. The sensors detected that the energy readings of the objects were critical and were near stage of overload.

"Commodore Meltzer come quickly we have new arrivals" he spoke to his communicator, but before he could even finished speaking the holographic display showed the tree objects going critical.

In an instant the three objects blew up in three simultaneous nuclear explosions.

 _Nova bombs, a common Turian protocol went going into enemy territory, designed to destroy any enemy ship caught very close to the relay or clearing mine fields around relay exits. How fortunate we did not maintain position around the relay, or we could have suffered tremendous casualties._

 _So much for peaceful first contact_

"All ships prepare for combat" he ordered through the Intercom.

When Commodore Meltzer entered into the CIC everyone saluted, as she moved towards the command console she sent a nod of agreement towards Steven Hackett; tacking her place at the head of the holographic map, the display began showing a new turian fleet exiting the relay.

At first they were dozens then they were hundreds and at last more than a thousand Turian war ships had arrived at the Fujian-Alpha System.

"Prepare for combat, and MARCOS I want numbers" she ordered to the ship's AI, who appeared on a hologram of the roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius wearing a breastplate and Legion armor standing next to Commodore Meltzer.

 _Steven had always believe that image was really funny, the holographic emitters produced by Mc Clendon robotics were really high quality, if you didn't know better it look like the roman emperor Marcus Aurelius had traveled forward in time, and appeared at the bridge of a space ship. To be fair most AIs preferred to shape their avatars bodies by basing them, on the most ridiculous or weirdest figures possible just to differentiate themselves for any living organic._

"Numbers confirmed: 2 Turian Class Dreadnoughts 892 meters long; 340 Turian Cruisers; 480 Turian Frigates; 220 support freighters, possible troop carriers."

"Two standard Turian fleets and an invasion force" she sentenced. "It looks like there won't be any peace offer any time soon." Commodore Lillian Meltzer sentenced.

XXXXX

 **2155.06.23**

 **HWS Vostra; Banner ship of the Turian 11° Fleet**

"Joint fleet has completed transition of the mass relay Admiral Survan" the comm officer stated. "Human fleet located in orbit of the System's only garden class world, in proximity to an orbital space station."

"Order the fleet to assume formation and set a course for the planet, time to end this." Admiral Nyreen Survan ordered, despite the sentiments of General Arterius and Orinia, admirals Survan and Victus shared some reserves against this invasion.

Hopefully seeing the full might of two turian fleets bearing down on them would be enough to force them to stand down and accept any terms dictated by the Hierarchy.

"Admiral the human fleet is hailing us" the comm officer stated.

 _So they want to talk_

"Prepare the translation matrix" she ordered. "Let's hope they aren't as stupid as the Krogan or Batarians."

From the ceiling a holographic projector was automatically deployed, with an ace of light a holographic projection of a human female appeared in the middle of the bridge. The resemblance to an Asari was interesting, the human female seem to be an officer, wearing a blue suit with several markings and the strange symbol of a golden tower with a rising sun behind it.

"Turian fleet, I am Commodore Lillian Meltzer of the Unified Systems Commonwealth's navy. State the intentions and reasons of the Hierarchy and the Citadel Council for invading our space." The Human commodore stated with determination and not a single ounce of hesitation was on her voice.

For a moment Admiral Survan hesitated, the message was in perfect translated Turian and knew who they were, and who they represented.

"Commodore Meltzer I am Admiral Nyreen Survan of the Turian Hierarchy. I have been ordered by the Hierarchy to secure this system and make you answer for the destruction of Admiral Varkus's Second Patrol Fleet. I invite you to peacefully surrender and have your forces lay down your arms we do not need to have any further bloodshed." She stated with as much conviction as she could summon.

"I see you are wondering how I know who you are and why I have been able to translate your language so quickly." The Commodore asked while flexing her mouth in an Asari smile. "Our technicians were able to access your computers rather quickly and recover all data of your Codex and military records. We have also been able to capture at least 800 Turians from the remains of Admiral Varkus's fleet. They have been imprisoned but they are alive and they are being treated well as it corresponds to our laws regarding prisoners of war and the rights of sentient beings." She made a pause before returning to an angry glare. "Admiral Survan, with all due respect, they were Turian ships the ones that attacked our survey ships on the nearby cluster and force their escorts to defend themselves; we sent a first contact package that Admiral Varkus ignored and it was a turian fleet the one which invaded our territory. The prisoners we interrogated revealed the reasons behind this attack, we activated the dormant relay linking to Citadel space but we did not had any knowledge of what it could bring; nor do we had any desire to start a war."

"I now give you my terms, have your fleet retreat back through the relay, leave if you want a small flotilla of no more than 8 frigates in this system which you can use to transport the Turian prisoners from the last battle back to their homes, I will release those prisoners as a gesture of good will; after that you can call your friends the Asari and we can initiate peace talks and a true first contact." She made a pause and look to Nyreen Survan with a gaze capable of making a Krogan flinch. "If you refuse to those terms, then you should know that attacking this fleet and attempting to occupy this planet won't be interpreted as another misunderstanding, it will be A DECLARATION OF WAR against the Human Federation, the Talosian Assembly, the Kashani Coalition and every other race of the Unified Systems Commonwealth." She practically shouted to the top of her lungs. "At your current speed our fleets will be in combat range in two minutes, state you decision Admiral because that is all the time you have." Commodore Meltzer stated as the hologram vanished.

For a few group of seconds, no one in the bridge reacted.

"We outnumber more than then to one, they cannot hope to beat us." One of the bridge officers commented.

"What if their prisoners are in those ships? We will be killing our own people." Another asked.

"Kashani Coalition, Talosian Assembly, Human Federation? Are we dealing with a confederacy of different species?" Another asked

"ENOUGH!" She shouted to the bridge. "We are Turians, we are the spearhead of the Citadel and these savages have insulted the honor of our kind, look at them, they have less than a hundred ships while we have more than a thousand, they are just bluffing. Whoever they are this Systems Commonwealth has killed hundreds of our own and may have worked with pirates and criminals from the Terminus Systems." She made a pause. "We are the might and will of the Turian Hierarchy; in our ships, in our talons and in our souls stand the spirit of war; TIME TO SHOW THESE HUMANS WHAT THAT MEANS!"

XXXXX

 **2155.06.23**

 **Escort Carrier CSV Marcus Aurelius**

 **Orbit of Shanxi; Lambda Expanse**

"With all due respect Commodore, we cannot defeat the Turian fleet in open combat, we are outnumbered and outgunned." Steven Hackett stated.

"I know Lieutenant but it is our duty to defend Shanxi; I won't abandon the colonies to the Turian invasion." Commodore Lillian Meltzer stated.

"And I won't asked you to die a pointless death for me" the hologram of General Williams suddenly appear in the middle of the CIC. "Commodore, my forces can and I will defend the colony against the Turians. We have made a defensive perimeter around the city and the Taquion shield has been activated; we can hold the line until the full might of the Commonwealth's navy comes to force the Turians out of the system."

"We will not leave you General!" Commodore Meltzer declared.

"Commodore we are receiving a transmission from Admiral Drescher" The voice of the AI MARCOS informed as his hologram shape shifted into the figure of the french Admiral Kastanie Drescher, everyone in the CIC saluted her.

"Commodore Meltzer, we have been informed of the situation. I am ordering your forces to Rift Jump to the Fujian-Delta System." Admiral Drescher stated to the confusion, indignation and perhaps a little relieve from her crew.

"Admiral I beg your pardon? But you are ordering me to run from a fight and leave the people of Shanxi alone against the wrath of the Turians?" Commodore Meltzer asked.

"I am ordering you to avoid throwing more lives in a meaningless battle." The Admiral stated. "The Fifth and Sixth fleet are on route to the Theta Nebula, they will arrive at Fujian-Alpha in 48 hours to liberate Shanxi. You stand down, leave the Turians have the day, because another is coming for them."

Clenching her teeth on frustration, Commodore Meltzer was about to comply, but an alarm shocked the CIC as the lightning of the room switched to the blue combat light.

"Commodore the leading Turian dreadnoughts are firing on our ships, we just lost the Teheran and Sidney." A CIC officer informed with rage and concern. "Our Heavy cruisers are returning fire; what are your orders?" he made a pause. "Should we deploy the fighters?"

"Turian frigate wings are converging on our position; our destroyers are preparing firing solutions on them."

Time seem to stop for Lillian Meltzer as she watched the completely one sided battle upon to be fought, she had her orders and plenty good reasons, but it did not make it easy.

"All ships converge on the Aurelius; we are Rift Jumping to the nearby system." She ordered as silence had befallen over the CIC. "Return fire to the Turians with your ventral batteries, and reposition your ships for direct Rift Jump."

"MARCOS, order all the remaining personal to evacuate the station and engage the self-destruct sequence. We cannot let the Turians capture our Rift Portal technology." She ordered with some level of her determination restored.

Steven swallowed hard; there was a reason why the Escort Carriers like the CSV Marcus Aurelius were assigned as flagships of small flotillas and received the title of "centurions of the USC fleet", while most USC ships were capable of using the Mass Relays and engage in FTL, the Escort Carriers were equipped with a powerful Lutece Rift Siphon which enabled the ship to directly link to the rift gate network and stabilize a tear in its position capable of connecting to either a regular set of coordinates or any nearby rift gates. In this case it allowed for the ship to summon a rift capable of translating the entire fleet to the closest system.

As the ships reposition themselves five more destroyers and three frigates were also taken down, while the damage inflicted to the Turian fleet was minimal.

"Lutece Siphon ready, opening Rift now" the voice of MARCOS reported as a scratch in the fabric of space and time was opened in front of them.

With a sudden acceleration the Shanxi defense flotilla crossed the Rift and disappeared from the orbit of Shanxi and the crosshairs of the turian gunners.

XXXXX

 **2155.06.23**

 **HWS Vostra; Banner ship of the Turian 11° Fleet**

"Admiral… The human fleet has just…" a bridge officer stuttered as everyone on the bridge including the Admiral were gawking upon the holographic display trying to figure it out, what in the spirits had happened.

"Vanished?" another completed the sentence.

"Did you detect any traces of signs of an FTL jump?" she asked the officer in charge of the scanner.

"No, our sensors classified the… anomaly like a gravitational storm with energy readings beyond the scale, besides that I have never seen anything like that before." He answered.

After a few seconds of internal unrest, the Turian in Admiral Survan woke up and her mind was returned at the task at hand. Watching the holographic display of the planet and the orbital station with only Turian ships remaining in orbit it seems like the battle had been won. Despite the strange method the human ships had managed to disappear, one thing remained clear the enemy commander upon realizing they were not going to stand down had decided to flee. One way or the other, the humans had abandoned their colony and their citizens at the mercy of the Turians rather than dying to the last man and ships defending them, simple cowards.

"Prepare the boarding teams we are taking the orbital station…" she was interrupted mid order when the station blew up in an instant.

"Admiral we are receiving a transmission from the surface of the planet, coming from the main settlement." A comm technician informed her.

Another human appeared as an hologram in the middle of the Vostra's bridge, this one was taller and far more corpulent, also follicles of fur grew not only on his hair but in his face, a male most likely; even though he were the same uniform as Commodore Meltzer.

"I am General George Williams commander of the defense forces on Shanxi." The male stated. "I would like to speak with the leader of the invading force over my planet."

"General Williams, I am Admiral Nyreen Survan of the Turian Hierarchy, your defense fleet has fled, and my forces have orbital control over your colony. I give you one last chance to peacefully surrender and prevent any further bloodshed. Our occupation will be peaceful, but if need be, we will use force. I invite you to spare the lives of your soldiers General in a battle that you will not win." Admiral Survan offered with some level of concern on her voice, as she could not stop thinking that taking this world would take the lives of many good Turians.

Upon hearing her answer the human general adopted a serious gaze.

"Admiral I personally requested to Commodore Meltzer to retreat instead of throwing away their lives in a futile skirmish." He began explaining. "The navy did its job when your colleague Admiral Varkus came through the relay with his fleet a few days ago; I believe you know the result of that battle. My soldiers are ready to do their part. We will not surrender to you Admiral Survan, we will fight to defend our homes until our last breath and for every human who falls on the battle to come five Turians will die. Believe me you should have taken our peace when you could; by attacking Commodore Meltzer Fleet you have declared war on the Unified System Commonwealth, be ready Admiral because my people are no Krogan, we are far worse." The General stated his words cold as ice as the hologram flickered and vanished.

While everyone on the bridge looked shaken by the declaration of the human general, Admiral Survan was calm and relaxed.

No matter how tenacious their soldiers could be, or how many tricks they could call from under their sleeve; no army on the ground could win or resist indefinitely without orbital support. Beneath them stood the main human settlement in this mostly pristine world a city relatively small for Turian standards that held the vast majority of the population of the planet.

"Show me the main human city" she ordered.

The hologram showed a metropolitan area with industrial areas on one site, tall buildings at the center and various structures and housing located in various areas. At the epicenter was a large open space, a regular park that serves as the central plaza of the city, with a one kilometer long arcologie in front of the park.

"Order our cruisers to prepare their orbital attack weapons, target the main arcologie and plaza."

Firing on Garden Class worlds with mass accelerator weapons was one of the most severe Citadel conventions in effect, if a turian commander ever use his ships axial guns to launch an orbital bombardment his or her name would be tainted for eternity and remember with the same fondness as a krogan war criminal. Turian ships however were equipped with smaller mass accelerator cannons designed to use in close range engagements or execute a precise orbital bombardment without the risk for collateral damage.

Destroying the center of their colony will cripple their moral and perhaps even take down some of their leadership in one shot.

"FIRE!" she ordered as soon as the guns were ready.

Every vessel in the turian fleet assigned to the bombardment duty was slightly shaken by the recoil effect of the guns. Yet as Admiral Survan expected to see an explosion consuming the central buildings of the human city instead a strange reading was reported by the computer and the in the holographic display it was as if the projectiles were stopped before reaching its intended target.

"Admiral… I do not know how this is possible…" the scan technician began explaining. "There is some sort of advance kinetic barrier covering the entire human city."

"That is impossible" another technician said. "There is not enough eezo in all of Tessia to protect an entire city."

"There is an electromagnetic and radiation readings from the upper atmosphere over the human city, but there is no Eezo signatures of significance on the city."

"Begin bombardment again and scan the city, tell me what in the spirits are we dealing with." Admiral Survan ordered.

Twice as many Turian ships unleashed their cannons on the Human city, but not a single projectile managed to hit the target. An invisible barrier surrounded the fortress of the enemy making itself visible with every shot, and with a hundred ships firing upon it, the barrier stood clear as water: an energy dome with its focal point at the center of the colony.

The bombardment continued for a couple of minutes until the ships required permission to stop and began discharging the heat that had accumulated on their hulls.

In the CIC of the Vostra Admirals Survan and Victus; and Generals Orinia and Arterius were certain of one thing after seeing a fleet of vessels escaping through an angry maw of pure energy that defied any explanation, and watching the longest bombardment round in Turian history since the end of the Krogan rebellions producing absolutely no damage at the human settlement; this was not going to be a simple pirate suppression operation or a simple engagement against a smuggler group, they were fighting a highly technologically advance civilization, in a battle that could decide the future of the Turian Hierarchy and the fate of the galaxy.

XXXXX

 **CODEX:**

 **The Unified Systems Commonwealth:** represents the immediate successor super state of the United Nations Human Systems Commonwealth. Serving as the central exploratory, scientific, economic and military arm of Humanity and the rest of its member races, the USC is a multi-species organization center around a single ideal: Ensure the preservation of all sentient life (organic and synthetic), as well as maintain the cooperation between species and the reach of every individual and civilization full potential. While also ensure that the mistakes made by the previous civilizations like the Protheans won't be repeated.

Member species of the USC maintain a great deal of autonomy as each species maintain their own governments, laws and cultures but their militaries and economies are completely linked to the super organization that is the USC. The executive board of the USC is the High Council based on the Erebus Nexus, the representatives of each species received the title of Chairman as they represent and lead their own species arm and contributions to the USC, the High Council serves as well as the colonial central development authority that allows the placement or reposition of Rift gates; or the activation of dormant mass relays. While each species maintains their own military forces only the USC is authorized of fielding true war fleets or constructing Dreadnoughts and carriers; the military arm of the Unified Systems Commonwealth is based on the Tartarus System at the planet Hades Prime. Even though some tensions exist between the militaries of each species, the constant training and cooperation between them has instilled a great deal of respect between the soldiers, sailors and commanders from every race. Also the fleets and armies of the USC had developed themselves around doctrines that promote reliance between allies forces: "one species strength nullifies another species soft spot"; for example the talosian fleet is center around heavy cruisers and battle cruisers, in simple terms bigger and more advance ships but also more expensive and fewer; while the Rachni prefers overwhelming numbers in smaller but more numerous fleets of frigates and light spore cruisers.

By the year 2155 the Commonwealth has already surveyed and claimed hundreds of systems and thousands of planets, as well as established innumerable colonies and outposts. The governments of every species maintain their spheres of influences around their central homeworld, while a few systems are jointly operated by several or all members of the USC.

 **Planets and Systems of the Unified Systems Commonwealth:**

 **Jointly Operated:**

 **-Jotunheim System – Erebus Nexus:** The enormous super space station that is the Erebus Nexus stands as the Capital of USC; the outer ring of the station stands 114 kilometers in diameter, with twelve petals like structures coming out of the ring known as pylons. Four mayor size pylons stand with a length of 35 kilometer and 15 km width, which are located in each cardinal point of the ring, the remaining eight pylons are 18 kilometers tall and 8 kilometer width, all of them containing growing organic size cities in a similar role to the wards of the Citadel. Several Rift Gates had been constructed and attached to the central ring, making use of the massive energy output from the station to power the rift gates.

In the center of the ring a group of asteroids had been immobilized by a structure of beams like a spider web holding capture insects. The biggest asteroid almost 15 kilometer in length stands at the cardinal center of the spider web. On top of this asteroid the previous command center of the station has been refitted as the USC High Council Headquarters, and the massive tower that crowns the structure is known to the rest of the USC as "The Lighthouse".

The superstation holds a population of 28 million inhabitants, mostly Humans and countless Rachni, and is maintain by thousands of service drones under the command of the Station AI Zeus. The critical nature of the station as the Capital of the USC has ensured the need to protect it from any outer or inner aggression, the Erebus Guard an elite multi species military-corps serves both as the station police and security as well as the military garrison; while hundreds of ships from the five species of the USC lead by the Human Federation's 1° Fleet are placed to protect the station from any invading fleet.

 **-Tartarus System – Hades Prime colony:** Military and industrial center of the Commonwealth, the Tartarus System is where most of the largest and most powerful ships of the Commonwealth from every species is constructed. As a binary system with millions of asteroids rich in mineral deposits, the system holds dozens of mining and dry dock stations.

Hades Prime the central colony of the system is a mostly rocky and sterile planet without breathable atmosphere that contains dozens of dome type colonies from every species. Rich in heavy metals like Palladium and Platinum with no ecosystem preventing full scale mining operations the planet is one of the richest and most profitable colonies of the USC. While holding millions of inhabitants from every species Hades contains a population of almost 400 million Rachni that work in the ship building facilities.

The largest City of the planet Ares Hill contains the headquarters of the USC Fleet Command.

 **-Rialis System – Hephaestus colony:** A trinary star system, Rialis contains several asteroid belts and planets that serve as the primary resource gathering site for the Hephaestus Gate Forge, the largest Rift Gate building facility on the Commonwealth.

 **Human systems and colonies:**

 **-Earth and Mars (Sol System):** Earth is the homeworld and capital of the human species and the most populated human planet, holding the government institutions of the United Federation of Nations. Mars the first true human colony outside Earth is still on the middle of terraforming stages so its population, besides the colony city of Delfos is relatively minor.

 **-Arcturus Station (Arcturus Stream):** One of the largest artificial stations of known space, Arcturus station is an 8 kilometer diameter Stanford Torus-type space station, at the trailing Lagrange point (L5) of the gas giant Themis. Arcturus Station was inaugurated in 2100, and has served as the main military and commercial outpost between Earth and its relay linked colonies. The strategic position at the intersection of relays connecting to the Local and Exodus Cluster has made Arcturus a critical headquarters for the Commonwealth's fifth and sixth fleet, and trade outpost for many corporations. With the Sol System and Earth located at the other side of the system's primary relay, the Arcturus station stands as a massive fortress guarding the entrance for the hearth of Human Space.

 **-Chiron (Alpha Centauri):** Human First extra solar colony in the closest system to Earth, population: 1,4 billion. Capital: New Rapture.

 **-Vanaheim system – Avalon colony:** Located in the intersection between Human, talosian and Kashani space; the colony of Avalon is one of busiest ports in the whole of known space with dozens of starships departing and arriving each day. Terraformation of the planet began on 2084 and it was not declared suitable for colonization until 2141, when it became a joint develop colony by the three species.

 **-Praxis:** A gravity of 2,5 G; an atmosphere almost non breathable even after terraformation and a cold weather would have prevented any type of massive human settlement if it wasn't for the massive deposits of minerals and eezo at the planet as well as the bio formation of the population to better adapted them to the planet. While independent from the Human Federation, the Praxian Directorate is still a member nation of the Unified System Commonwealth. The Praxian Directorate is a stratocracy, where the lines between military and government are almost nonexistent. The praxian culture and society are considered as the ultimate expression of the ideals from the old Rapturian Objectivistic Republic with sovereign nationalism and militarism added into the mist. The main pilar of Praxian society is a ranking system for its citizens that regulates almost everything, from the type of work a person is allowed to apply to the limits of genetic and cybernetic augmentations. Meritocracy is equal to further genetic enhancement in the praxian society and advancement of merits and positions are rewarded with greater influence but also greater responsibility to the society as whole. A massive industrial, military and economic powerhouse Praxis is equal only to Earth or Hades Prime in importance to the human portion of the USC economy. The high birth rate of Lilim type children and mass production of Praetorian suits, has afforded Praxis the tittle of the "homeworld of Big daddies and Little Sisters".

 **-Sinhon:** The most populated human colony, Sinhon holds a population of 1,6 billion people. The establishment of the independent state of the Sinhonan Republic has done little to improve the conditions of its impoverish inhabitants, or to prevent a sour reputation for marking the planet. The colony is considered an example of how the troubles of humanity had followed them into the stars, several religious cults, human supremacy groups, anti-augmentation organizations and even criminal syndicates had settled on the planet, turning the world into a controversial topic for the rest of the Human Colonies. Still a member of the USC Sinhon is a powerful agrarian and industrial world, with several corporations taking advantage of the cheap labor force that the planet's population provides to push forward their objectives.

 **-Arcadia:** Established by the joint efforts of the European Union and Rapture investors, Arcadia is the bread basket of the central colonies, a garden world with a vast fertile land and almost 160 million inhabitants.

 **-Columbia:** Established by the joint efforts of the US and Great Britain it is one of the most develop colonies, it contains some of the best learning centers in human space and perhaps the galaxy. Its capital Londinium is considered "the jewel of the outer colonies". It has a population of almost 140 million.

In orbit of Columbia it was commissioned on 2146 the Masha Lutz academy, an orbital learning institution 2,1 kilometers in length that serves as the most prestigious training center for human biotics, Lilim psi corps and some of the best young scientist, mathematicians and engineers of humanity.

 **-Eden Prime:** One of the most successful colonies, population 42 million.

 **-Terra Nova:** Population 39 million.

 **-Amanecer:** Established as the first joint effort by the South American countries to expand their presence into space and prove their worth to the rest of Earth's nations Amanecer is a vast humid-garden world with a binary star, covered in endless thick green jungles. Most colonies and cities have been built near the coast or in deserted areas as to prevent any alteration in the planet's environment. It is the site of development for some of the most important health and gene therapy programs in the Commonwealth.

 **-Shambala:** A garden world with vast mountain ranges and valleys, the abundance of diverse ecosystems and environments have made this planet one of the most suitable sites for troops training and field tests. Many military exercises and simulations were held in this world by the Commonwealth's navy.

 **-Volga:** Established by the Russian Federation, Volga is a massive industrial center; its proximity to Quarian space has gave the planet a steady source of capable engineers. Some of the newest and most advance ships of the Commonwealth were designed or even built in the orbital facilities of the colony.

 **-Hoysala:** Established by the Republic of India, Hoysala is a growing colony still in early terraforming stage.

 **-Alainsijam:** Arab colony and mining world.

- **Chóngsheng:** Chinese agrarian colony

 **-Wakanda:** South African colony, site of the second largest Gate Forge of the USC

 **-Noveria:** Independent colony, site of experiments and corporate developments.

 **-Arkham:** Ocean type world, scientific research colony

 **-Shanxi:** Minor Chinese colony

 **Talosian systems and colonies:**

 **-Rodin:** Talosian adoptive homeworld and capital of the Talosian Assembly.

 **-Axiom Prime:** Talosian primary colony.

 **-Karalis:** Talosian mining colony.

 **-Su Lasenty:** Joint human talosian research outpost.

 **Rachni systems and colonies:**

 **-Nar Sara:** Rachni adoptive homeworld, center of the Rachni Hive and headquarters of the Order of Interpreters.

 **-Carbonis:** Volcanic world, primary mining rachni colony.

 **-Asures:** Sulfure atmosphere planet, Rachni colony.

 **-Kharnak:** Former human colony, desert planet, currently a rachni settlement.

 **Kashani systems and colonies:**

 **-Muin Saku:** Desert world, Kashani homeworld currently in process of re terraforming.

 **-Faron Sha:** First Kashani colony

 **-Niel Gara:** Garden world, kashani colony and usual stop for vacations.

 **Quarian systems and colonies:**

 **-Rannoch Nova:** Quarian adoptive central world, garden world with dextro base ecology, Rannoch Nova has three moons giving the planet an unstable cycle of seasons, but it has provided the planet with a resilient and remarkable ecosystem which the quarians had taken advantage for their agrarian programs.

 **-Jhulsen:** A zero atmosphere planet, mining colony and site for refueling and resupply for the Quarian Migrant fleet.

 **And it is over, writing this chapter was exhausting. Some of your questions regarding the end will be answer in future chapters.**

 **As always: I do not own Mass Effect nor Bioshock**


	9. Chapter 7: Holding the line

**Chapter 7: Holding the Line**

 **Sorry if it took me too long, there is only one chapter left before the long awaited meeting between the Commonwealth and the Citadel Council.**

 **I want to thank you all for all the magnificent reviews, however I know there had been plenty of complains about my writing, I will try to be more careful and meticulous from now on.**

 **2155.06.29**

 **Shanxi, Capital city of Quinhai**

 **Nearly a week after the beginning of the turian invasion**

 _It has been 5 days since the Turians began their assault, my colonial guard and militia stand around 80000 men strong, while according to our Intel and projections the Turians hold an entire Legion of 300000 trained soldiers, yet we have the defenders advantage on our side, and they do not know anything about our technology and military doctrine._

 _The enemy is disciplined and very well organized just like Intel has described them; the Turians the best fighting force in the galaxy according to themselves and the Quarians, they have mostly proven their reputation right so far. Even though the taquion shield over the city has prevented the Turians from bombarding the capital from orbit, eliminating their greatest advantage; they have the numbers on their side and the further this siege continues the greater is the risk over the civilian population of the city._

 _Our engineers and working crews have constructed a defensive perimeter around Quinhai putting together barricades and trenches in every street, we were fortunate enough to evacuate most of the people from the outposts and towns to the capital where we intent to make our stand. I thank God and the human careful planning that the standard colonization doctrine is ensuring the construction of a central colony Hub before allowing the colonization of the rest of the planet, Quinhai has a population of 1,2 million people while the whole of Shanxi contains 1,5 million in total, now they are all gather in the city hoping that we can defend them from the alien invaders. It troubles me that we were not able to evacuate the entire population of the planet to the capital, some towns in the far outskirts were not reached in time, while a pair of independent settlements refused the evacuation all entirely as they distrusted the government and military or they were simply confident in the navy_ _'s victory after the first engagement near the Lambda-Zodiac Relay, believing nothing was going to happen to them._

 _Poor bastards, I hope the Turians hold respect over non-combatants_

 _I received a message from Highcom yesterday, the Commonwealth's Fifth and Sixth fleets had been gathered at the star base on the Theta Nebula just on the other side of the Shanxi-Theta relay but they will not begin their assault until the High Council dictates the order. Damn politicians, they claim they do not want to start a war; not realizing that there is already a war here and human soldiers are dying by the dozens._

 _The Turian commander seems to be fairly capable and experienced, before abandoning the primary spaceport located on the outskirts of the city and outside the coverage of the taquion shield I instructed the engineers to placed explosive charges ready to detonate as the Turians enter to occupy the complex. The turian fleet instead simply bombarded the railway and road leading to the spaceport before sending a survey team with service drones. Upon realizing the place was rigged they just blow it up with a heavy salvo of artillery. I should have known the Turians were not going to fall for that simple trap._

 _The defense of the city has been going rather well actually, with the main streets blocked by hastily constructed barricades or demolished buildings the Turians had been sending their units through minor streets becoming easy prey for our snipers and ambushes. The main Turian battle tank is similar to the ones described in Codex as a Krogan assault troop carrier, a slow and bulky vehicle; it is not suitable for moving and maneuvering through Quinhai_ _'s more narrow streets becoming an easy prey for our anti-tank artillery and our own Sandtiger battle tanks._

 _I have organized my forces defending several critical choke points around the outer defensive perimeter of the city, but the Turians are constantly trying to break through the main barricades with sheering force alone without regard for their own casualties. As my engineering teams and working drones are constantly repairing the barricades, the best of our Special Forces and combat praetorians had been conducting counterstrikes on them._

 _We have manage to maintain a stable defense strategy in part thanks to the fabricator units on the colony_ _'s central construction yard that had been assembling defensive turrets and combat drones, allowing us to offset our numerical advantage against the enemy._

 _Despite all of this, the Turian's determination has not falter; so far our casualties are below the 12% while Turians casualties may be above 40%, yet they have only been fighting harder. More importantly as they have been unable to use their war ships in orbit, they have been using their ground artillery on every building in their path, conducting a Coventry type urban destruction in order to cripple the defensive environment the city provides._

 _Frankly I am tired of waiting, the fleets are just outside the next mass relay but the High Council has not given the order to engage, with the excuse that an army group tasked with liberating Shanxi has not joined them yet. If the fleets will not move then I will; my forces are preparing a massive counter attack spear headed by our main Special Forces Squadrons and the entirety of our armor Division._

 _In this moment I wonder if the reason why I was assigned to this back water colony, practically on the edge of the frontier and without any Rift gate connection was because of my beliefs. Christians, Muslims or Jewish are not very popular and numerous on the Commonwealth_ _'s military outside Earth and the central colonies, most of the leadership of the fleet is atheist, and the Rapturian culture has expanded to the whole of humanity and our alien allies. Also as genetics and cybernetic augmentations has become so common among the people and even more in the military, religious people are seen like Luddites as best or potential human supremacist fanatics as worst. But I am Christian like the rest of my family and now I ask God for good fortune._

 _I will begin preparing the final arrangements for the counter attack in the next few days, time to show the Turians what Human determination and resolve are capable._

 _In these hours of uncertainty I cannot help but to think of an old poem I read once; The Lays of Ancient Rome_

 _As the Barbarians lay outside, then out spake brave Horatius; The captain of the gate:_

" _To every man upon this earth"_

" _Death will come soon or late"_

" _And how can a man die better"_

" _Than facing fearful odds"_

" _For the ashes of his fathers"_

" _And the temples of his gods"_

 _May God stand with us in the battle to come._

Journal of General George Williams

XXXXX

 **2155.06.30**

 **Turian Forward Base**

General Orinia of the Turian 8° Legion had never felt so much frustration since her earliest days in the Turian military camp. A lifetime of discipline and the belief that no task was insurmountable seem to falter with each day her troops suffer enormous casualties by attempting to break through the Human's wall of death; platoons after platoons had died in every attempt to create a breach in the defensive perimeter around the city.

Standard Turian doctrine relies heavily on the use superior firepower and a combine arms approach. The fleet and airships attacking from above, isolating enemy positions and wreaking havoc and confusion; then heavy armor divisions spear headed by tanks and APCs were to cut through the enemy lines creating as much damage as possible in the enemy's organization so as the infantry could sweep away any resistance remaining.

With the Super kinetic barrier protecting the city from orbital bombardment, the siege of the human colony had turned a simple assault and occupation into a grinding urban warfare scenario, a fight house by house in which the defenders main objective was to bleed the attackers dry.

Aerial support for the troops was difficult as well; the humans had position anti-air defenses in almost every building, when an attack gunship moves to support the ground troops a network of well place laser cannons simultaneously open fire on the vessel as soon as it was in range. Only by the use of overwhelming numbers and plenty of sacrifices it was possible for the air-ships to provide any aid to the battle bellow.

Intending to cripple the enemy defenses she had ordered her forces to destroy or capture the Human stationary defenses. It had not been easy, an entire army of combat drones armed with lasers and mass accelerator weapons constantly attacked those soldiers attempting to sabotage their defenses.

The use of synthetic units in warfare in such a way, had disgusted General Orinia and most of her officers, only the Quarians had been cowards enough to relegate the mandate of war and defense in their synthetic creations; using an army without soul, without loyalty and without spirit to fight their own battles. Yet the Quarians had received what they deserved when the Geth rebelled and expelled them from Rannoch, the ignorant Quarians had paid the price for their arrogant trust in AIs and their lack of fighting spirit. For their part it seems like in truth humans only seem to relegate synthetics for auxiliary tasks in combat, their soldiers had been fighting with valor and discipline worthy of even Orinia's respect.

They have managed to recover one of the human automatic turrets with the great sacrifice of a full platoon, as their first attempt to capture resulted in the device self-destruct while the second was follow by a human ambush attempting to prevent the capture of their technology. The tech experts were amazed by the systems of the sentry turrets. According to the tech team, it was a laser cannon similar to the one of a point defense GARDIAN array, but this laser cannons in particular use some kind of negative ion charge in the beam capable of frying electronic systems in nano seconds, according to the techies not even the Salarians or Asari had anything like this.

Her omni tool blinked and the reports from the last engagement came into shape, detailing the list of dead and many more wounded. A pair of Human prisoners had been accounted as well.

She needed to clear her head so she decided to see to the situation outside. The Turian forward base was simple, hastily constructed a few miles from the human city in clear plain that could serve as a landing site for the support ships. Landing ships had been converted into barracks and containers into storage rooms. A simple barricade surrounded the base with watchtowers in each entrance; in a secure edge of the camp was the field hospital.

A few containers keep the beds for the patients in most critical conditions, the rest were keep out in the open with injured bodies pilling up next to the other. As she approached the place several soldiers saluted her, even some of the injured despite the fact some of them look like they were not in condition to walk or remain awake. One of the medics approached her before saluting.

"General fifteen more wounded have arrived, currently we are being treated but we are beyond our capacity, if this rate of injures continues we may be facing a higher rate of casualties." The medic informed her.

"Focused on the less severe cases, we need as much people back in the frontlines as soon as possible; but keep the most critical alive." She ordered.

"GENERAL!" A lieutenant called her, before stopping and saluted. "The human Commander has sent a transmission he wants to speak with you."

All around the soldiers looked at her surprised, some looked furious at the Human outgoing actions, some looked hopeful that they may be willing to discuss terms of surrender; for Orinia she was sure that the enemy commander General Williams just wanted to find anything of his enemy.

She returned to her command center and ordered her officers to gather up in the table. In the screen in front of them the face of the enemy commander appeared.

"General Williams" she stated with venom on her voice. "Have you come to discuss terms of surrender?" she asked, as the face of the human general shape into a smile.

"Only if it is your surrender the one you are suggesting General Orinia" the human answered to the uproar and disgust of the turian officers.

"You cannot win Human, we have you surrounded and outnumber." General Desolas Arterius shouted as he stood up.

"Your numbers dwindle with each day Turian; we have supplies, ammo and enough will to hold the line for months; but I am guessing you do not have months to maintain the siege, not with the Citadel Council breathing on your necks." The human General stated as the Turian officers exchanged looks with concern.

"What do you mean, General?" Orinia asked. "What can you possible know about the Council?"

"Only what the Codex and our prisoners had been telling, something tells me that they do not know the full truth and scale of this engagement" he answered before adopting a more serious glance. "Anyway, this is what I wanted to discuss: You have several of my soldiers' prisoners, I have plenty of yours. I wanted to discuss a prisoner's exchange"

Everyone in the table exchange looks, the mind of General Orinia was feeling conflicted. General Williams was right, the Council was not going to condone the occupation of the colony of a recently discover species, especially if all of this could lead them into a war. This was supposed to be a simple attack with overwhelming force in order to force this species into submission or at least a peace agreement without poisoning against the Citadel and Hierarchy, as well as gaining information about their technology, culture and government. Instead this battle had turned into the bloodiest stalemate in Turian history since the end of the Krogan Rebellions.

"There won't be any exchange, General Williams, if you so much as hurt those Turians under your captivity we will make you pay, a hundred and then a thousand times." She answered. "Now I give you one last opportunity to surrender, you are running out of time, the Council knows about you, and your actions against them. If you don't surrender the full might of the Turian Hierarchy, Asari Republics and Salarian Union will come crashing down on you and your species; if you do care about your people stand down General."

For a moment no one said anything before the human commander look at something on the other side of the room from which he was transmitting, and adopted a more angry and determined gaze.

"It is you the one who is running out of time, General Orinia you should have taken our last peace offer when you could. There is an old human saying: Whoever will come to us with a sword, from a sword will perish, know this will end with blood, the entire galaxy shall know you came to the wrong neighborhood and you knock on the wrong door." General Williams stated before the screen went black.

XXXXX

Later that same day, Orinia stood witness to the interrogation of the Human prisoners, who were cooperative to an extension, they refused to speak anything about the position of their defenses but they were willing to explain a few things regarding their technology and cultural values.

The Super Kinetic barrier over the city, apparently it was an electromagnetic force field of some kind which the Humans referred to as a Taquion Shield. An impressive technological feat the Hierarchy and every race on Citadel Space would do anything to have.

As for the humans themselves Orinia could honestly say they were just as impressive as their technology. Her first time seeing an actual human was on the medical bay of the Vostra where a boarding team had recovered several bodies from the destroyed human warships. Although they had been exposed to the void and some were badly burned by the explosion of their ships, her first reaction had been of dismissal and disappointment:

 _That was the face of the enemy? That was the new race that had destroyed half a Turian fleet and a dreadnought?_

They were mammal in nature according to basic scanning, with clear gender separation of male and female, there were not enough indications to conclude this race could possess any cast like system or ruling caste, like Salarian Dalatrasses or Asari Matriarchs.

These Humans looked completely unremarkable in appearance: Their skin look soft like paper nothing like the tough leather almost aquatic skin of the Asari; they possess no claws or strong talons like Turians or Elcor, their digits look even weaker than those of a Drell although perhaps stronger than those of the Asari; the body seem to lack any sort of protection like Krogans and Turians; and their body shape seem to made them lumbering and slow like batarians, with weak legs in comparison to Quarians, Turians or Salarians. Her impressions didn't pass the first day, medical scans and analysis made by the xeno biologist teams revealed several impressive findings regarding these Humans.

According to the doctors Humans possess incredible strong bones reinforce by carbon fiber, remarkable muscle tone making them not as fast as a salarian but certainly more agile than a Turian, Krogan or Batarian; also their brains possess impressive neural pathways that seem to provide them with advance learning abilities and nearly eidetic memory. However the most impressive trait of the humans besides the fact that among those bodies found was a wide range of genetic diversity in comparison to other races was the presence in several humans of a set of tumor like nodules in several parts of the body, similar to biotic nodules but different as a set of secondary neural connections between themselves and the central nerves on the spinal column seem to indicate the humans were born with genetically inherit biotic abilities.

The first engagements in the human city seem to confirm that, Turian troops have charged into a human entrench position, and a single human soldier had created some sort of gravitational singularity that had left the Turian soldiers floating and defenseless against human riffle fire, later that same day a Turian grenade was stop mid-air and return to the sender by a human with a yellow aura using telekinesis. But no one knew what they were to expect when during a battle on the second day a Human soldier wearing a red armor summoned a fire ball on his hand and unleashed an inferno over an entrench Turian position, that very day she received more than a dozen reports detailing similar situations; manipulation of electric currents, telekinesis, pyro kinesis, even some rumors of mind control. On the third day, one of her officers a Lieutenant Donustes was abducted when a human Commando made some kind of Biotic jump appearing only meters behind the Turian position and deploying some kind of cryo energy weapon or cold fluid that literally freeze a dozen Turians including Lieutenant Donustes before grabbing the paralyzed officer and making another jump disappearing from view before the rest of the platoon could react.

Yet it was not the unusual set of abilities of the Humans simple troopers that caused the greatest concerns among her troops but rather the tremendously powerful super soldiers known by the Humans as Praetorians that had caused so many casualties in latter engagements, the ones that always seem to present a real game changer every time they were deployed in the battlefield.

In an attempt to understand their enemy a Turian unit had feigned retreat prompting the Humans to pursue them, it had worked despite the fact it had taken the lives of six Turian soldiers to bring down a single Praetorian Bouncer.

The examination of the fallen Praetorian had provided so much needed answers, their initial hypothesis that the Praetorians were synthetic soldiers was proven wrong as soon they opened the huge metallic body and found a human inside. Saying the tech experts were impressed would be an understatement, the exo suit was made of an organic living tissue with cybernetic implants that gave the suit's user incredible strength and resistance, serving as a sort of symbiotic armor, with remarkable shielding and combat capabilities.

She did not knew if she was more impressed or disgusted of the humans, while they did not hide behind synthetic soldiers like the Quarians did with the Geth, they performed cybernetic augmentations on their own soldiers, distorting their own flesh in order to enhance the capabilities of their elite soldiers. In the end she could not help to imagine how many Turians lives could be saved if the Hierarchy's military has their own Praetorian exo suits.

Her eyes hurt, she had barely sleep since the last failed attack on the Human forward fort; she had planned the attack for hours only to fail: with several snipers on the rooftops of the buildings around the fort laying suppressive fire and three armored tanks it seems like the battle was on their favor; until a single Human hover tank broke through the Turian lines and destroyed in mere minutes all the Turian vehicles, also a unit of Praetorian soldiers equipped with jump jets managed to move in and surround their forces while also deploying many of their spirits be damned sentry turrets turning the retreat of her forces into a massacre.

General Arterius of the Blackwatch had suggested targeting the Human city with their ships main mass accelerator weapons in order to break the energy shield, every part of Orinia wanted to throw away Citadel Conventions through the airlock and firing everything they have in an attempt to destroy that cursed super barrier, many could claim that she had every justification as this was not a regular situation (Citadel Conventions did not say anything about firing on a planetary city sized energy shield), yet a small part of her being knew that if they open fire on a garden class world no matter the excuse her name and the ones of every single one of her soldiers would be tainted for all history.

At her refusal and the ones of Admirals Victus and Survan, General Arterius had suggested an attack on the Human's main power plant most likely the source of energy for the taquion shield; in the end she had agreed to a joint assault, her main force will launch a simultaneous attack on the main three human positions around the defensive perimeter while General Arterius himself and his elite unit would infiltrate near the river crossing the city and into the sewers from where they could go behind the defensive perimeter.

She was hoping they were successful, if not then the battle to come could cost the unnecessary sacrifices of thousands of Turian soldiers.

XXXXX

 **2155.07.01**

 **Castle 3, defensive perimeter of Quinhai**

"Corporal Petrovsky, our reconnaissance drones have located a Turian array of communications in a building nearby. Our analysts believe the enemy may be using it to try to decode our communications." Lieutenant Lian Yu explained as he showed a projection of the building with the objective and its location.

"So you want me and my fireteam to destroy it" Corporal Oleg Petrovsky asked.

"No, I want you to hack it, by providing false messages we can wreak havoc on the enemy forces" Lieutenant Lian explained. "I am sending a combat engineer with you; your mission is to provide an escort for Private Shen'ji Lin, as she hacks the Turian array."

"The sewer network is still intact in this sector, you will move behind the Turian forward positions while the armor division shall draw the attention of the Turians by moving two units against them." She continued. "Do you think your team is ready?"

"We are Lieutenant!" he answered. "We know this city, and we are ready to take it back from these aliens."

XXXXX

"I will never take that smell of my nose." A private commented as soon as they abandoned the sewers, and returned to the street.

"When this is over I am going to take a long vacation on Eden Prime" another added.

"Da hell with this backwater colony, me and my family are moving to Chiron or Earth after this." The last a Private Marcel Farron commented before Olec ordered them to shut up.

They had entered a ruined building outside the defensive perimeter, for the look of it, the building may have been a bank, it was a solid concrete structure that had barely resisted the turian artillery yet it was still standing.

 _Just like the ones who build it_ , he thought

The ruins provided cover against the enemy, as the six men group hide behind a broken concrete pillar dozens of those bird like aliens appeared outside running in a remarkable organized way. In the distance the sound of heavy mass accelerator cannons could be heard.

The tanks must be making their move, now is our turn. War is like chess, a piece moves then another, then another, the one who wins is the one who knows how to make sure his opponents move their pieces at his command. Forcing an enemy to move like you want is the best guaranty of victory.

"Target in sight" reported the sharpshooter of the group, as he added the location of the Turian Communication Array to their HUDs.

"This will not take long" the female engineer Shen'Ji Lin reported as she took a sphere like object from her bag pack.

Oleg observed her as she held the black metal sphere on her left hand and began typing a few commands on her wrist data tool with the right hand; her level of professionalism in a combat situation was remarkable. She was a beautiful woman, Chinese in origin, with brown eyes, pale skin and obsidian black hair, probably around 26 years old maybe even born and raised in Shanxi; most of the guys from the squad were drooling for her.

For Oleg she was just another piece critical for the game, you needed to be careful to get too attach in combat situations, even if that is what makes you human.

After a few seconds the black sphere came to life and began floating into the target not before disappearing from sight with a cloaking camouflage, as soon as the hacking drone was a few meters from the alien computer it launched a miniaturized Hacking dart loaded with nanites into the objective without even breaking cloak.

An endless stream of code went through Ling's holo display in her left arm; no one could even follow the speed of the letters and numbers that passed through the wrist device screen.

"Ohh shit!" Lin exclaimed, adopting an expression of concern. "I have just discovered a priority message in the Turian channels, they a moving a massive coordinated attack on the perimeter now."

Soon the earth began to shake like a small earthquake, around them small rocks in the ground were vibrating with a growing rhythm and the ruins of the building were spitting dust from every side.

Outside an endless column of Turian APCs were riding down the deserted streets, with hundreds of their spiky soldiers marching beside them.

"Ferreti sent a message to command, warn them and I want an update on our exit strategy." He ordered Private Ferreti one of his soldiers, as everyone huddled together in an attempt to hide their presence.

An artillery salvo made the earth shake as explosions began to sprout around the Turian armored column, destroying a few vehicles and spreading chaos among their ranks. A map of retreat was transmitted to his HUD, showing a clear path avoiding the Turian forces in order to return to closest sewer entrance.

"Follow me!" he ordered as he stood up and began sprinting while keeping his body crouched in order to prevent detection by the enemy outside.

After they abandoned the building, they made a quick run from one block to the other trying to use any cover at their disposal. Luck was not on their side, only one and a half blocks away from the sewer entrance a Turian sniper shoot Ferreti, the kinetic barrier flared but resisted saving Ferreti's life.

A grenade launcher took down the sniper, but the Turian had already called reinforcements, the map in Oleg's HUD began showing several Turian soldiers and even four APCs converging on their position.

"Any defensive position on this location" he asked the computer VI in charge of Shanxi's colonial Hub.

"One moment" the electronic female voice answered, and not a nano second later it continued. "There is a restaurant-bar shop building with only one primary entrance and solid structure in this block; marking on your HUD Corporal Petrovsky."

As it has explained the position of the Bar was on the location pointed. The VI was not wrong, the Bar or restaurant with Chinese letters and a the shape of a fish on the signpost, looked rock solid and easily defendable with only a primary entrance leading to a wide place with a two stories height flanked by a mezzanine and instead of windows leading to the outside there was instead a long row of aquariums in the walls, preventing any expose breach the enemy could use to break into the building.

Oleg, Ferreti and Lin adopted a defensive position behind the bar, while the other two riflemen took position on upper mezzanine ready to kill whatever comes through the entrance.

Oleg studied the layout of the building seeing a secondary entrance on the other side.

 _A back door, if we hold long enough we may be able to bug out by escaping through that emergency exit._

The team had also deployed the entire complement of three automatic mini-turrets, increasing their overall firepower. Two in the room with them and the third covering the back door.

A group of grenades were thrown into the room from the outside door, Oleg charged his focus and used his Telekinesis to throw the grenades back outside, explosions yet no screams could be heard outside, it seems the Turians have learned from previous engagements.

A thunder shocked the bar as a Turian APC cannon blow up a hole in the outer wall breaking the glass of the aquariums and throwing the fish and gallons of water into the room, another wall was destroyed on the other side opening a second hole.

Smoke grenades exploded blocking the view into the enemy positions outside the bar before rockets were fired into the inside of the building, Ferreti a biotic summoned a barrier and protected Oleg and Lin as the building was shocked.

The other two upstairs were still unharmed.

Finally a dozen angry Turians barged in riffles in hand. The two surviving mini-turrets opened fire first, with their short range ion-lasers frying the Turians hit by their automatic aim and leaving their metallic carapaces bright red and near flames.

Then the two riffles upstairs fired taking down three Turians within seconds, yet as many more Turians continued to enter the aliens began to return fire.

Shen'Ji Ling's shotgun blew the head of a Turian only two meters away smearing the wall behind with a graffiti of blue blood, while Ferreti and Oleg emptied the magazines of the riffles on the aliens in front of them, in just a few seconds every Turian in the room was dead.

Oleg ordered the group to reload their weapons and prepare for the second wave, as he activated the communicator on his ear and call for reinforcements.

"Command this is fireteam 11, we are pin down by the aliens in a local restaurant outside the defensive perimeter, we need extraction as soon as possible" he practically shouted, as he looked back to the rest of his squad he watched the rest of the room.

 _A sushi restaurant, nice place to face death; but if I am meeting the grim reaper today then two or three Turians shall come with me._

The aquariums had been broken, fish of every size lay on the floor flapping and fighting to breath, among the broken glass and the puddles of water…

An idea crossed his mind just I they heard the Turians moving outside

"Everyone listen up! When the Turians come no one fires until I said so" he ordered to the confusion of his soldiers who were beginning to think, he was going to surrender. "Olivera have your electroshock prepared, and use it on the water puddles when I give you the mark."

A new group of Turians barged in, this time they all carry riot shields and they were making their own version of the roman testudo formation. Behind the shield two or more shooters were laying suppressive fire for the unit, preventing Oleg's group from returning fire.

Despite the raging fire of the mass accelerator weapons, Oleg managed to hear as the talon shape boots stepped on the water puddles, splashing water.

"OLIVERA NOW!" he ordered.

A massive current of electricity produce by Olivera's plasmid Electroshock, hit the water puddles in an instant. The Turians screamed and shouted in pain, feeling their muscles and nerves burning with pain. The effect of an electroshock was perhaps even much more painful for a Turian than a Human as the former metallic carapace was an electrical conductor that prevented their bodies from maintaining any kind of natural resistance.

The Turians fell down unconscious or dead, Oleg did not care.

"Fireteam 11! we are moving out!" he shouted as he stood up. "FOLLOW ME, MOVE!"

The squad sprinted through the service hallway of the restaurant and crossed the exit into the outside.

Once again in the streets Turian patrols move to surround them, but Shen'ji Lin used her combat drone to project a hologram of the team and sent it as a decoy in the opposite direction, as the team crouched down behind cover the Turian patrol swallowed the bait, hook, line and sinker and began following the holographic squad as the real one sprinted into the nearest sewer entrance.

They were half a block away when a Turian APC and its accompanying squads moved to cut their escape.

A heavy cannon of the APC nearly blew them up to kingdom come, but they managed to move quickly enough and took cover behind a broken burn down truck, the heavy plating of the truck making a metallic symphony as dozens of mass accelerator rounds impacted on the metal.

Just when Oleg and his team though this was the end, two angels came to their rescue, more specifically two RF-81 Orca Gunships appeared on the sky and unleashed their payload of Jericho missiles over the Turians.

"Corporal Pretovsky we are moving to cover your escape back to the defensive perimeter, rendezvous with your reinforcements in this position." The Voice of Lieutenant Lien sounded through the comm and a mark position appeared on his HUD.

With the gunships covering their escape the team ran as fast as they could but another group of three Turian APCs moved to ambush them.

Fortune was on their side once again as a heavy cannon destroyed one enemy APC, from one of the streets an enormous floating beast moved silently through the dust. A powerful war machine, an iron beast from hell: a Sandtiger Hover Tank.

Oleg Petrovsky had never seen the N1A5 Sandtiger Hover Tank in action but it was like seeing the reincarnation of the legendary Tiger Panzer german tank in a battlefield two centuries later: A hover tank designed on a sloped and compact frame built around a fixed gun turret with two small mini-ion laser turrets on both sides. The use of a Lutece levitation device and propulsion made the vehicle fast and maneuverable, while the Turian cannons could barely scratch its strong kinetic barrier and Rearden steel armor plating.

Another Turian APC was turn into several pieces of twisted and scorched metal by the fierce bite of the 90mm mass accelerator cannon of the Sandtiger, while the spiky Turian soldiers were taken down in seconds by the precise mini-turret ion laser cannons of the tank.

Fireteam 11 followed the tank as it clear their path, in just a few minutes of walking they have reached the human defensive perimeter.

As human firepower from the other side of the barricade covered them, the team crossed the defensive perimeter and went through the entrance.

The team released a long breath of relief, as they felt safe for the first time in what felt like hours. Soldiers opened way for Lieutenant Lian and he approached them ready to hear their report.

Oleg and his teammates formed a line and saluted their superior officer, Oleg wanted to begin his report but it was Shen'ji Lin who beat him to the punch.

"Lieutenant the Turians are preparing a massive attack on the perimeter, also there is talk of an elite team of blackwatch operatives attempting to infiltrate behind our lines." She asked with rushed proficiency yet not showing any nervous or hesitation.

"We already know" the Lieutenant answered. "Our recon drones had detected a Turian squad attempting to infiltrate our perimeter, apparently they intent to secure or destroy the power station perhaps believing that it powers the Taquion Shield. We sent the Delta 01 Team to meet them."

"The N7 squad?" Oleg asked. "I almost feel sorry for the Turians."

There was little time to continue talking, as a round of enemy artillery impacted on the ground next to them. The commander of the outpost shouted everyone to their positions and outside the barricade fire was exchange by the rifles and machine guns on both sides.

Oleg called on his team and reloaded his gun, ready to join the rest of the defenders at the barricade, but he stopped for a second.

"Are you coming with us, my lady?" he asked the combat engineer.

"I wouldn't miss it Corporal Petrovsky" she answered with conviction, as she grabbed her shotgun. "Ready to fight" she said as she joined them.

XXXXX

 **2155.07.01**

 **Industrial district of Quinhai, location of the central power plant**

"Lieutenant Abrudas how far are we from our objective?" General Desolas Arterius asked his second in command.

"Less than a hundred meters for the Power plant General." She answered.

Good, General Desolas Arterius was starting to hate this planet and its inhabitants. That spirits dammed super barrier prevented the fleet from supporting the army on its operations as it was supposed to, if it wasn't for it then the battle would have been over already.

He had to admit swallowing his pride that these humans were something else: they fight with discipline and valor almost matching his Turian brothers and sisters; their unusual powers made them similar to Asari commandos; their praetorian super soldiers were as strong and brutal as Krogans and their technological assets, be it drones, energy weapons or combat vehicles made them as slippery and cunning as the Salarians. It was like fighting various species at once instead of one single race.

Despite that he knew in his spirit that these humans were simple cowards, like the Asari or Salarians hiding behind their powers and technology instead of conducting war as it truly was supposed to be: a fight in which the strongest and fittest survives and triumphs.

Around him the streets of the human city were death quiet, according to the infrared scanning (it was fortunate that most scans were not completely interfered by the Taquion shield) most of the civilians had been moved to the central area of the city, as far away as possible from the battle, while according to the human prisoners the weakest of the civilians (women, elderly and children) had been transferred to underground refuges.

The city itself was also easy to defend and very capable of providing any attacking forces a nightmare of maddening urban combat. The tallest buildings were located in the center of the city, where an open plaza, an arcologie and some kind of factory seem to be the focal point of the colony. Yet in the outer circumference of the city buildings had been apparently hastily located with huge avenues sharing an urban grid with secondary streets so narrow that even a single APC could have troubles maneuvering, not to mention that a senseless location of tall buildings even in the outer perimeter made this city a sniper's wet dream.

Just when they had the shape of the human power plant building in sight a sniper shot took down one of his men, the shot came through the chest cleanly, piercing through barrier and armor, leaving one broken Turian dying on the ground as a puddle of blue blood was growing beneath him, and his mandibles stained by the coughing of his own blood.

"Sniper take cover…" he was unable to even finishing the order when an rocket hit the squad not injuring anyone but damaging their barriers as shrapnel hit in every direction, and preventing a clear view by the rising dust.

The squad took a defensive position back to back behind a cover of intact human vehicles, receiving riffle fire from the opposite direction. Desolas's squad return fire but with the dust blocking them, neither side could aim correctly. Lieutenant Abrudas prepared a grenade yet she knew human biotics could just grab them in midair, lowering her body to the ground she instead made the grenade roll into the human position beneath the vehicles.

An explosion perhaps increased by the fuel in one of the vehicles terminated the shots coming from the human squad.

Desolas's team stood up and slowly walked to check on the enemy squad. A gory yet satisfying picture received them, two humans were clearly death with puddles of crimson red blood beneath them and their exo skeleton like armors riddled with holes; another was also death with a hole going through his helmed and blood coming from his head; the last one was alive yet barely, still moving and coughing but with one leg missing and more severe injuries as well.

Desolas get close in order to put the alien out of his misery but he stopped to allow the human to die slowly in pain.

The survivor human however removed his helmed and look back to Desolas and his squad, the look on his eyes was of pure defiance and burning anger fueled by pain, yet as the rest of the squad paused to look at him the expression of the human soldier changed and his mouth flexed in something resembling an Asari smile.

"You..Turian… SCUM…none of you…shall leave…this planet aLivE" he spited with hatred and his last breath. "You will all…be slaughter…by Captain Dewitt!"

As if on cue a sniper shot took down one Turian, then heavy machine gun fire killed three on an instant and as Desolas managed to turn around he saw in the distance a figure in jet black armor holding a sword in the right hand sprinting towards them, for a millisecond Desolas though it was a hallucination but just as a Turian was about to fire his riffle on it, the black soldier warp himself in the blink of an eye at a distance of not even a meter from the Turian soldier, and his sword went through the neck of the amazed Turian as a bird's wing going through wind.

Desolas panicked and fired on the black demon whose kinetic barriers flared, but the blue aura of biotic power crossed the body of the black soldier and in an instant General Arterius and five more of his soldiers were flung up into the air by a massive biotic push and landed roughly behind a few crates.

As Desolas rose up in all fours and grabbed his riffle as he sneaked into cover next to a shaken Lieutenant Abrudas, he saw as two more black figures joined with the sword bearer human and killed some of his remaining men, while a fourth figure looked to be tending to the injured human soldier.

"It's them" a Turian soldier that had also being flung by the biotic push and who had also managed to take cover behind the crates said in fear and near desperation, his riffle was shaking on his talons. "The black demons!" he nearly shouted.

"Black demons!?" he said with apprehension to the scared soldier. "Pull yourself together, we are Turians! We fear nothing!" He ordered.

"General these are the Human elite commandos" Lieutenant Abrudas added at his side. "Our prisoners call them the N7 squad, elite veterans according to them; the vast majority of the defiant threats coming from our prisoners are about them, and some of our soldiers had encountered them in the field." She made a pause hesitating before speaking "we need to retreat, we are not reaching the Power plant with the N7s in front of us and human reinforcements on their way."

"I am not backing down Lieutenant! We are Blackwatch! These Human Commandos are responsible for the death of countless Turians! We have to take them down!" he ordered as he looked back to his five remaining soldiers.

Raising the riffle to his side he prepared to return fire and kill those spirits cursed Humas, the rest of the squad copied his move.

"FIRE!" he shouted as they opened on the four black figures.

The shots were blocked by a Biotic barrier summoned by a female shape Black soldier wearing a hood.

As the Turian team emptied their thermal clips on the barrier, an enormous behemoth jumped from the roof of the nearby building, as he crushed on the ground the pavement was broke by its heavy landing, yet the creature stood up seemingly unfazed by the recent jump. The Turian who had almost broken when he saw the human commandos looked at the creature in fear, yet he continued firing. It was another of those praetorian super soldiers but he looked different than the ones reported, and the color of its armor was jet black with a red trim line going through the arms and legs just like the rest of the N7demons.

The beast raised its arm and aimed it heavy mounted weapon on Desolas squad, just as the biotic barrier vanished and his team jumped from cover, a RPG fired by the creature blew the crates hiding the Turian team.

Before Desolas and Abrudas could react, their three remaining squadmates were put in a biotic stasis field by the hooded female black soldier.

One of the black demons charged against Abrudas who quickly aimed her pistol at the enemy, but the Human commando deployed some kind of energy riot shield similar in appearance to an omni blade from his left arm. Two shots bounced from the shield without so much as slowing the charge of the black sentinel, when he was less than a meter from Abrudas the demon charged a biotic push and hit the female Turian. In the ground and stunned by the biotic attack Abrudas attempted to stand up, but the enemy commando jumped over her and quickly subdued her.

Meanwhile Desolas managed to take cover inside a local store where he found himself confronting the sword bearer black demon, his riffle was almost empty but he opened fire on the enemy assassin. His last few rounds only hit the wall of the room as the demon simple teleport himself right next to Desolas and with a quick motion he took the riffle from his talons throwing it away a second later, acting by reflexes Desolas grabbed a combat talon knife from his hip and slashed at the enemy who masterfully stop his arm mid attack and thrown a hard punch right at his helmed.

His visor was shattered and his head ringing from the punch, but Desolas mind was still working. _He could have used his sword to kill me yet he didn't; he must be intending to capture me._

He pushed the helmed out of his head and threw it away, looking gazes with the enemy who was on a battle stance holding a pistol on one hand and the sword in another.

"Surrender" the human ordered. "I will prefer not to kill an unarmed opponent."

"I will not surrender to you human!" he shouted as he attempted to grab the pistol on his hip only to find it was not there.

"Fine then" the human answered with a voice cold as the nuclear winter of Tuchanka. "Lest end this, as warriors." He said, as he threw away his sword and pistol to the amazement and confusion of Desolas, before also taking down his helmet revealing his pale pink skin, brown hair and green eyes. Then he assumed a fighting stance with his fist forward at the height of his shoulder, left leg forward and right leg behind.

 _A sense of honor… Interesting; unlike Krogans or Batarians they have a code it seems._ Desolas though as he assumed his own fighting stance and charged at his opponent attempting to use his talons against the human neck or eyes as those were weak vulnerable spots.

The black demon blocked his attacks with quick moves from his arms and threw a combo of hard punches on his Desolas head, even with the height difference there was no denying the human was fast, nearly as fast as a salarian only that this human's punches did more than just massaging the Turian carapace. Desolas launched a fast kick with his long leg aiming at the middle part of the human's left leg; the human managed to avoid the kick but with his opponent backing off Desolas had more room to maneuver.

 _He is not using his disappearing ability, perhaps due to his sense of honor or the absence of the helmet needed to control it._

He made another long slash with his talons but the human quickly turn around and launched a heavy round house kick right in Desolas chest; the armor absorbed the impact so he felt nothing but the force behind the kick forced him back. Just a he was about to recover and attack, the black demon rushed to him and with a quick motion swiped his legs under him. Landing hard on the ground and with the armor hindering his moves, Desolas was unable to prevent the human from standing over him and deploying a wrist blade on his neck.

"Name, rank, mission" the human ordered.

"General Desolas Arterius, Turian Blackwatch, our mission was to rescue the Turian prisoners" he answered speaking with venom on his voice.

"General? Interesting" he answered. "I am Captain Brandon Dewitt, Commonwealth's Special Forces; by the way everyone knows that your objective was the power plant, so don't lie to me." He made a pause. "You are coming with me, do not resist" he ordered as he stood up.

Desolas Arterius was exhausted but he was not ready to give up. He activated the omni blade on his arm and attempted to stab the Human captain, but the black clad assassin vanished in a blink just as the solid light blade was centimeters from his chest.

Appearing right next to Desolas, the human bioticaly charged fist hit the Turian's head with the same strength as a sledge hammer, leaving the exhausted general completely KO.

XXXXX

"General Williams this is Captain Dewitt, the Turian infiltration squad has been dealt with; we also have a Turian General, a lieutenant and three privates as prisoners." Captain Brandon Dewitt informed through the comm.

"A general?! Remarkable work Captain" General Williams answered.

"How was the assault on the perimeter? Did we lost many?" he asked.

"As expected, the Turians hit us with everything they had and we in turn returned them the gift in kind. We lost 868 soldiers we also have 212 civilians' dead or injured by Turian long range artillery, finally they breached the barricade on sector 5 we will have to reassemble the perimeter next to the river." He explained with sadness. "The Turians however sustained tremendous casualties, and the moral of our soldiers is high, we just received communication from the High Council; the Fifth and Sixth fleet are moving up. One more thing: I received a message from your friend Captain Taggart of the CSV Orleans."

"What does Johny been up?" he asked with interest.

"His ship is observing the Turian movements, in preparation for an eventual assault by the joint fleet" General Williams made a pause. "He has told me he has been itching for a fight."

"Yeahh sounds like Johny; thanks General Dewitt out." He said as cut the transmission.

Reinforcements have arrived with two troop transports ready to take the prisoners, saving him the trouble of carrying that heavy Turian on his shoulders like a sack of grain.

"Captain" his second in command Lieutenant Alec Ryder called him. "The injured soldier has been transported to the hospital."

"Your number one fan is going to be okay Captain" Sergeant Tadius Ahern, the Praetorian Rumbler and engineer of the squad added "even though he is going to need a new prosthetic leg. Did you see how he spoke about you to those Turians?" Tadius added with a tone of both ironic humor and respect.

"YOU WILL ALL BE SLAUGHTER BY CAPTAIN DEWITT" Caroline Silverman the squad's biotic said, imitating a deep voice.

"ENOUGH!" Sergeant Jon Grissom the squad's third in command and Slayer Vanguard shouted silencing the two jokers. "We lost three soldiers thanks to those Turians bastards and that poor man has lost his leg and he almost lost his life."

"Well said" added Corporal Sergei Ullman the last member of the squad, their marksman and soldier. "We may lose many more, in the next battle."

Captain Dewitt nodded. _I hope the fleet comes soon, or more young men like that poor soldier are going to die._

XXXXX

 **2155.07.01**

 **Erebus Nexus, Lighthouse Tower**

 **Meeting of the High Council**

"Are we all in agreement with this plan?" the Human Chairman asked. "This is an attack on a human colony; there is no need for the rest of you to be involved in a coming war as well."

"An attack on humanity is an attack on the Unified Systems Commonwealth" the Talosian Chairman stated. "Is an attack on all of us" he declared with conviction.

"My kind owns a great debt to humanity" the Rachni chairman a Brood warrior using a translator bio suit stated. "The songs of our mothers were twisted and soured ages ago, in our ignorance we brought pain and suffering to the rest of the sentient beings of the galaxy. Our destruction and silence of our songs would have been absolute without the help of the Commonwealth; we do not seek conflict with the Asari and Salarians again, nor we demand vengeance against the ones who executed our genocide and now slowly descend into the same silence we once fall into; but we will join Humankind against those who will see the destruction or submission of all of us."

"My people are not as developed as the rest of the USC" the Kashani chairman explained. "But if it wasn't for you all we will still be stuck in Muin-Saku, fighting for every puddle of clean water, fearful of the desert advancing on us. We will move our ships and soldiers as well."

"The Talosian Assembly's fleets are ready" the Talosian Chairman added. "We will join with you in the liberation of Shanxi."

Finally everyone looked at the Quarian Chairman, who had remained silence most of the meeting.

"My people had never desired any conflict with the Citadel Council despite the fact the Turians, Asari and Salarians abandoned us in our moment of need, denied us any help or support, and have been looking down on us for decades" the Quarian chairman began explaining. "Yet we also own a debt of gratitude to the Human race and the Systems Commonwealth for providing us a new home and a voice in this Council" he declared with conviction. "All of us can be certain of one thing, the Citadel Council is the one who started this war, they are an arrogant oligarchy that believes that the galaxy is theirs to control. The Quarian nation will stand with humanity and the USC against the Turians and their allies, time to show them the full might of the Unified Systems Commonwealth."

"Then are we all in agreement?" the human chairman asked.

Everyone nodded.

"Then it is decided. Admiral Le Fleur of the Sixth fleet and Commodores Lillian Meltzer and Anjali Kapoor will began working on a plan to liberate Shanxi" he began explaining. "Once that is done, we can expect for the Citadel Council to either sent a diplomatic envoy and begin peace talks; or utterly assume we are too great a threat for them to simply accept our existence and prepare a massive force and fleet of the three Council races to force our submission or destruction."

"I am hoping they have enough common sense to prevent a war instead of starting one" The human Chairman declared before looking at his Quarian colleague. "For that reason Chairman 'Zorrah is your team ready?"

"We are Chairman Fitzroy" the Quarian Chairman answered.

"Then time to begin operation Whitegate" Chairman Fitzroy declared.

XXXXX

 **2155.07.02**

 **Citadel, Widow Nebula**

 **Council Chambers**

"It this true then?" Matriarch Callias Tevos Councilor of the Asari Republics asked his fellow Councilor Prateus and the hologram of the Turian Primarch, concern and indignation filled her voice.

A report from the salarian STG detailing the disappearing of an entire patrol fleet as well as the movements of two Turian fleets into a previously abandoned system, had instilled some suspicion in the Asari and salarian Councilors about the vague Turian report detailing the encounter with a group of pirate ships operating on system 483-62, possible related to the Terminus black fleet.

After some hesitation and reports of supply movements to the abandoned system both Councilors had confronted their Turian colleague, who knowing he was cornered and without an exit provided them with the complete set of reports of the past days.

 _Say what you want about the Turians being arrogant and hardheaded; at least they are honest, they may bully others and refuse to say anything but when confronted because of their actions they do not lie; for them lying about one's actions or blaming other for them is worse than the mistakes themselves._

"I am afraid it is true Councilor Tevos" the Turian Primarch answered. "But the actions of the Hierarchy are entirely justifiable; this unknown direct energy weapon use by the alien ships matches the main weapon of the Terminus Black Fleet, while the destruction of half a patrol fleet convinced us of the hostility of these aliens."

"So when a Turian scout group encountered unknown ships in an abandoned system, your first reaction was to open fire; then as an entire fleet abandoned its post and moves to cross a newly activated mass relay into uncharted space they also ignored a first contact package left by these new race in order to prevent conflict to finally engage in combat with an alien fleet, losing almost two hundred ships and a dreadnought; and in the end you chose to declared war on the newly discover race that seemingly has every justification to defend themselves and their territory." Tevos declared.

"The first encounter with the Human survey group and the subsequent battle at the other side of Relay 314 were product of the poor judgment of Admiral Varkus but the operation to occupy this alien colony was under my orders." The Primarch answered.

"This is most distressing" the Salarian Councilor Eshael added. "New race in possession of highly advance technology: Direct energy weapon capable of destroying a Turian cruiser with a single shot; alternate mean of FTL, wormhole manipulation perhaps; City wide Kinetic Barrier; Advance exo-suits used by their soldiers."

"I agree, by your actions Primarch you may have irreversible poisoned this new race against the entire Citadel" Tevos exclaimed as she collapsed on her chair. "An advance species with this level of technological development does not look like another set of primitive upstarts with delirious of greatness like the batarians."

"I know councilor, when we received the report of the destruction of the entirety of Admiral Varkus patrol fleet, the leaders of the Hierarchy were outraged and demanded retribution but also scared of this new aliens; I and others we believed the best solution was making a show of force capable of forcing this new race into cooperation without driving them into a war with the Citadel." The Primarch made a pause. "Now my soldiers are dying by the thousands against a species we did not know a month ago, we first lost half a fleet, now we have already lost half a legion. And we barely know anything about this new race other than their name and capabilities."

A small report detailing the information about this new species was transmitted into the Councilor's omni tools.

"These aliens refer themselves as Humans, native to a planet known as Earth or Terra as our translators have pointed; they are mammalian in nature with male and female genders and reproductive means similar to those of large mammals. Our medical exams have revealed they have a remarkable genetic diversity and an adaptive biology, with abilities like biotic powers apparently genetically inherited just like your race the Asari." He made a pause as he continued to explain the data recovered from the battle at the Human colony. "They call themselves the Unified Systems Commonwealth; they are democratic apparently, with a heavy emphasis in self-determination and perfection on each of their citizens. Their forces are well trained and disciplined with cutting edge weaponry and equipment."

"Impressive" finally exclaimed Tevos after a few minutes reading the entire report. "This new species could become a great addition into the Citadel, as long as we can stop this from descending into a full scale war. Even if their fleet is relatively small compared to ours, we will still face an insurmountable task attacking or securing their colonies. We must order your forces to retreat as fast as possible and then send our unreserved apologies to this new race. Then we need to begin an extensive diplomatic damage control program, an economic reparations package and a species-specific charm offensive to try and see what we can salvage from this debacle."

"I agree with Tevos" Eshael added. "Yesterday if someone has asked me I would have declared without hesitation that there was no force on this galaxy other than a Krogan to fight the Turians on an equal ground, a war with this Commonwealth could mean an economic and political disaster for the Citadel, while their alliance could be incredibly beneficial."

"And how do you propose we turn this situation around?" Prateus asked, speaking for the first time since the beginning of the meeting.

"By sending the entire Citadel fleet to this system and forcing the retreat of the Turian fleet" Eshael explained to the surprise of everyone in the room.

"How is that going to fix this massive cluster fuck?" Prateus asked.

"According to the report from Admiral Survan, the Humans had deciphered the Codex data from the crippled vessels of the DMZ Second Patrol Fleet. They know our languages and a great extent of our capabilities and perhaps intentions. But for all they know, this war is entirely because and against the Turian Hierarchy; bringing a joint fleet of Asari, Salarian and Turian vessels into the system, while the army occupying their colony retreats could convince the Humans that we are there to make things right, while also making them know that the war they may seek in retribution won't be just against the Turians but also the entire Citadel."

Everyone exchanged looks, clearly thinking deeply about the idea presented by the Salarian Councilor. While Tevos was deeply troubled by the implications of resolving a conflict initiated by deploying a fleet in a clear show of force by doing exactly the same thing in a different manner.

"I agree" she finally said. "We will stop this war before it truly begins."

"How long will the fleet, would take to assemble?" Councillor Tevos was frustrated and angry. "The longer this drags on the worse domestic opinion is going to get when it comes out, to say nothing of our relations with the humans. We may be able to take the prestige hit of them refusing to join. Though it would be painful, disappointing, and a tragic loss to the galaxy if it occurred that's not the issue. The Humans however being left with a deep, unshakable hatred of us and a dedication to undermine the Citadel and get revenge would be a true serious concern."

"If they decide to embark on that course, whatever the cost, it will be a nightmare that will haunt our successors for centuries, especially with their territory so close to the Krogan DMZ. The batarians are bad enough and they are actually an associate race! A non-associate race, giving every possible support to every tin pot terminus government, pirate gang, mercenary company and slaver ring that promises to make life miserable for us will be an utter inferno."

"I will order Matriarch Lidanya to prepare the Destiny Ascension for the operation and I will also call the Asari Sixth Fleet to lead the Citadel Fleet" she began explaining as the Salarian Councilor was checking something on her omni tool. "We will also need an Ambassador, perhaps Matriarch Benezia T'Soni, if she is not busy with some affairs back in Thessia…" she was interrupted mid-sentence by Councilor Eshael.

"Well, we may have to move very quickly if we intent to defuse this situation before it also hits the home front." The Salarian Councilor expressed concern clear in her voice, as she pressed a command on her omni tool.

Soon the holographic display in the Coucil chambers began showing a video of Turian soldiers killing unarmed humans; then another of a video of Turian and Human soldiers exchanging fire among the ruins of a broken city; then another and another set of similar images; all with a message beneath: THE TURIAN HIERARCHY AT WAR WITH A NEW ALIEN SPECIES.

"It's all over the extranet" the salarian Councilor explained. "STG has just detected the diffusion of the transmission and its spreading quickly through the extranet."

XXXXX

 **2155.07.02**

 **Citadel, Widow Nebula**

 **An hour ago, Zakera wards**

"Sent a message to the Arella, the package has been delivered." Kiran'Nael nar Tesleya ordered his partner.

"Understood, we should return to the ship now" Lia'Urrun nar Moreh suggested with anxiety in her voice.

It was clear she was nervous and she had plenty of good reasons to be nervous. They were pilgrims in an assignment to buy a few items on the Citadel when an encrypted message from the government of the Protectorate came to their omni tools a few days ago.

The news that the humans were at war with the Turians had shaken them to their very cores; everyone knew that once the Citadel finds out the role of the Quarians and the Migrant Fleet had on the Commonwealth they could be expelled from Citadel space in the best case or hunted in retribution at the worst.

The report detailed the battle at the recently activated mass relay, for reasons neither of them could understand the news that the Turians had been outright massacred by the Human fleet had amused them. Finally the arrogant stick on the ass Turians were receiving what they deserved.

 _Only one other race in the galaxy who we can share food and they have to be them_

As the days passed new messages were transmitted into their docked ship the Arella and their crewmen keep them informed on the updates. For every Quarian alive, living in an environment suit was a custom but not an obligation anymore as the humans had given them a new colony where to settle and the means to repair their degraded immune systems; only on Citadel space was the use of the environment suit mandatory in order to avoid suspicions and allow a higher level of protection for those Quarians born and raise entirely in the ships of the Migrant Fleet instead on the new colonies like Rannoch Nova.

Finally a priority one message coming from the Quarian Chairman himself came through, giving them a mission: The Commonwealth was not certain that the Turian actions had been sanctioned by the Council, so they sent with the message a collection of recordings detailing the actions of the Turians on the Human colony of Shanxi. As a trained hacker Kiran was tasked with hacking into the extranet from a public server at the Citadel and uploading the evidence, so as to bring the Turian actions into the light.

As they leave the area, the eyes of Lia were frenetically scanning at the surrounding, even beneath the opaque visor Kiran could see that Lia felt like a thief abandoning the scene of the crime.

As they get into the main street two Turian C-Sec officers came into view, they look nearly identical except one use red paint on his face and the other white, Lia closed distance with Kiran and they both attempted to avoid suspicious and eye contact with the Turians.

The last one was easy because of the helmets but the help of their ancestors was not with them on that day.

"Hey suit rats come here" the voice of the Turian officers stopped them cold.

They turned around and walked into the position of the C-Sec officers.

"Something wrong officer?" Kiran answered with calm.

"I want your IDs, Job license and residence permission" The C-Sec officer ordered them.

Both of them obeyed without hesitation, refusing to show the tiniest gleam of nerves. Their "papers" for lack of a better word were in order; for all stand and purposes they were just two quarians in pilgrimage on the Citadel selling unrefined Paladium while also buying a few eezo capacitors for the Migrant fleet.

"Why did you come to the Citadel?" the other C-Sec officer asked with apprehension.

"We have a customer interested in buying our Palladium and providing the best prices for eezo capacitors." Lia explained with ease, blocking any fears she may be carrying.

"Your Palladium? What did you steal from another ship?" the C-Sec officer asked, his voice laced with disgust and an interest in finding any excuse to incarcerate them.

"What?! We mined it in a planet on the Safire cluster. We are no thieves" Kiran answered with a slight tone of anger. "And even if we were, we are here on the Citadel in legitimate business, so if you don't have any reason to arrest us, let us continue do our jobs."

The Turian C-Sec officer looked back at Kian with disgust and shoved him roughly nearly throwing him into the ground. As Lia came to support him, the two C-Sec officers turned to leave, not before the red paint one looked back at Kiran.

"Leave the Citadel this is no place for you Suit Rats. Go back to your fleet!" he said before turning around and following his partner.

Kiran's long fingers flexed into a fist, he just like all other Quarians were raise to hate the Geth for expelling of their homeworld yet the Geth were machines moved not by evil or an organic desire of dominance but rather a purpose to preserve their own existence; without neither hate nor love. But those Turians who had abandoned the Quarians when they were on the verge of extinction and had condemned the Krogans to a slow genocide were completely worthy of his contempt.

 _Don't worry I will return to my fleet and if your government and Council is stupid enough to declare war to the USC; then I will stand with the Quarian and Human fleets as we darken the skies of Palaven._

 _And then you shall know what is like to losing your homeworld because of your ignorance and arrogance._

XXXXX

 **2155.07.03**

 **HWS Spirits of Justice**

 **Banner ship of Turian 10° Fleet, Admiral Victus**

Admiral Lonrel Victus was writing a letter to his nephew Adrien when he was called to the bridge by the commanding officer of his Banner Ship and his second in command Superior Captain Nakandrus.

Cursing the spirits for not even allowing him the time to catch up with family, he stood up from his seat and abandoned his private quarters in order to head up for the bridge.

As he walk through the hallway of his ship he could have sworn the vessel was moving, clearly a violation of his orders to maintain position in orbit of the human colony. Upon arriving at the CIC he was surprised to find most of his banner officers and the hologram of Admiral Survan, Coronel Nazarra and General Orinia also present in the room.

"Admiral Victus, sir" Captain Nakandrus saluted him. "We are moving the fleet to the outer relay of this system."

"Why?" he simple asked instead of demanding an answer for ignoring his orders.

"I gave the order Admiral; we need to prepare to defend the system." Admiral Survan stated.

"Defend the system? Are we expecting human reinforcements?" he asked with concern on his voice. Most of the Banner officers of the fleet believe that the fleet encountered on this system may have been the main human fleet.

"It seems our original hypothesis that Commodore's Meltzer fleet was in command of the main human fleet was far too optimistic." Superior Captain Nakandrus added.

"A few hours ago in an attempt to map this cluster and find if the humans had any colonies or maybe even their homeworld on this sector I sent a group of six frigates through the outer relay."

"You sent our ships through an uncharted relay invading inner human space?" he asked with a little indignation. "This is a breach of protocol."

"After going through the relay, the frigate varren pack surveyed a nebula containing a small system without garden worlds but holding a large star base and a massive human armada." Admiral Survan explained, as she clicked a command on her omni tool.

Soon the holographic display changed presenting the hologram representations of hundreds of human ships, everyone at the room exchanged nervous glances.

"How many?" he asked.

"More than a thousand ships" Admiral Survan began to explain, then the VI of the ship began selecting and accounting the number of human ships.

-600 ships classified as cruisers, 520 meters long

-200 ships classified as frigates, 240 meters long

-140 front line ships, previously classified as dreadnought, now designated as Heavy Cruisers, 780 meters long

-16 previously classified as mobile star base, now designated as carriers, 1100 meters long

-4 previously unknown ships, 1350 meters long, designated as dreadnoughts

Another exchange of nervous glances was conducted by those in the room

-2 previously unknown ships, 1620 meters long, designated as super dreadnoughts

Silence had taken hold of the bridge

"1350 meters long? That is more than twice the length of our cruisers!" Superior Captain Nakandrus stated. "And four of them? This must be their entire fleet."

"Personally I am more concern with the two super dreadnoughts; they are even longer than the Asari Super Dreadnought Destiny Ascension. If they contain an axial gun matching their length they could break through the barriers of any ship in the Hierarchy's fleet." One of Survan officers added.

"If the two super dreadnoughts are their banner ships, it is clear this battle group is a combination of two full strength fleets." Superior Captain Nakandrus suggested.

"That fleet has already been alerted of our presence and our knowledge about them, from the six frigates I sent to survey the other side of the relay, only two managed to return and inform us, the other four were pursued and shoot down before they were able to retreat." Admiral Survan informed.

"If this fleet crosses the relay, they will slaughter us, we stand inferior in numbers and those Heavy cruisers are nearly as powerful as second line dreadnoughts; not to mention the six human dreadnought and sixteen carriers, I don't like those odds" Admiral Victus said.

"Exactly why we need to position our ships around the relay, aiming all our firepower at their sterns and propulsion; just like the humans did against Admiral Varkus." Another officer added, with some naïve determination on his voice.

Everyone exchanged looks of agreement, as Admiral Survan began typing a set of orders on her omni tool

"We will divide the entire fleet on three squadrons located behind the relay with our two dreadnoughts standing from firing positions bellow and above, in order to better aim any expose side of the human ships. If the spirits are with us, then maybe the humans may move their fleets in parade formations like us, sending their largest ships first, allowing us to take down their dreadnoughts and heavier ships at the beginning of the battle." As Admiral Suvan explained the holographic table began to show the position of the relay and the fleet formations she was suggesting.

"If the humans sent their frigates first, casualties could be disastrous" Captain Nakandrus added. "We should face the fact that we are dealing with an enemy with clear superior technology."

"Their technology and tricks do not match Turian discipline; we will achieve victory as any price as we have done for over a thousand years" Coronel Nazarra, Orinia's second in command stated to the surprise of the room.

"With all due respect Coronel" Admiral Victus began. "In battle ship to ship, it is clear these humans have the advantage: a direct energy weapon that can take down a cruiser with one shoot; that energy shield covering an entire city and their ships have advance kinetic barriers and armor plating. We are not dealing with a group of arrogant batarians or brainless krogans, we are facing an opponent with a clear technological advantage and remarkable combat tactics, and if we lose against that fleet we may have begun a whole new rachni war."

"There will be many casualties on the battle to come" Coronel Nazarra stated claiming the attention of the whole room. "But if we win, we will have destroyed perhaps the entire human fleet, leaving them no choice other than surrendered to us, and allowing the Turian race to lay claim to all their technology and weapons. We will be unstoppable."

Everyone look at Coronel Nazarra with concern and a slight tone of fear, there was an almost crazy gleam on his eyes as he spoke of claiming the human's technology. It was not without cause, agents of the Turian Blackwatch like Coronel Nazarra and General Desolas Arterius were trained and instructed to conduct off the book missions for the Hierarchy, claiming whatever they could find that could serve the military.

"What if the humans do not use mass relays?" Captain Nakandrus cut in, claiming the attention of the whole room. "We saw the human fleet over the colony opening a breach of pure energy and traveling through. What if they do not require the use of mass relays to move from system to system?"

Everyone exchange looks once again, not knowing a clear answer this time.

"Our scans of the human's ships revealed that they use eezo on their ships cores; and the first fleet that encountered the humans in the system 483-62 reported that the human frigates escaped by jumping through the relay." Admiral Victus explained. "This alternate mean of FTL must be very risky, perhaps it is only meant to be used in critical situations. Whatever the truth may be, the only viable solution we may have to stop the human reinforcements from entering the system is to assemble all our combat ships near the relay and fire upon the punitive fleet as soon as their ships had crossed the threshold."

In only a few hours the Turian fleet standing eight hundred strong ships was positioned near the outer relay ready to engage any foe that came through the ancient construct.

XXXXX

 **2155.07.03**

 **CSV Orleans, Commonwealth's Stealth frigate**

 **Orbit of the second moon of Jiangsu; observing the Turian fleet**

"Captain Taggart the Turian fleet has assumed a defensive formation around the Shaxi-Theta relay." The scan officer reported.

 _So they know the joint fleet is on the other side._

"If we inform Admiral De Fleur of the position of the Turian ships I have calculated on the records from the previous engagements, that there is a 67% probability that the joint fleet would achieve victory with less than 29% casualties." NADIA the ship's AI informed.

"Elaborate" he ordered.

At his command the hologram of NADIA began explaining the most suitable strategy in the holographic table:

"They say that in chess the peons advance first, this is true on this situation as well: Sending the entirety of our fighters-bombers and corvettes through the relay as a vanguard would overwhelm the Turian formation, saturating their point defense systems by their numbers alone, then by deploying nuclear or inferno warheads from our squadrons we could destroy several Turian ships in the first minutes of engagement; after that the squadrons of frigates could make quick work of the Turian cruisers while also planting carefully place Gravity Well Generators in order to anchor the exit of our rift openings, allowing our carriers and their escorts of Cruisers to take critical positions against the Turian Formation; finally the safety arrival of our dreadnoughts and fleet carriers through the rift openings would mean the end for the Turian fleet. Even if the Turians make use of their own fighters, nuclear missiles or perform any high risk maneuver like short range FTL jumps I project a maximum of 29% casualties for the Commonwealth's battle group."

"Still too high" he answered with coldness. "NADIA prepare a report for Admiral Comstock detailing the last enemy movements and begin to calculate the best vectors for Rift jump entrance into this system."

"What is the situation in Shanxi" he asked.

"The Capital is holding but the Turians have begun to target every building on their path with their ground artillery without regard for civilians and collateral damage, casualties so far had been barely above those expected with the Turians suffering a higher rate of casualties." NADIA informed.

"Supplies?"

"Even with minimal rations, Quinhai holds a population of a million and a half people. Projections of scarcity of resources are witting a month."

"Captain with the Turian fleet at the edge of the system we could alleviate the situation for our people in Shanxi by attacking the Turian support ships or one of their ground bases." A deck navigator suggested.

"I wouldn't recommend that" his XO Commander Anna Diaz answered. "Attacking the Turian positions would only serve to reveal our presence and prevent us for reporting any further enemy movements."

"I am afraid, I agree with Commander Captain for now we must trust the Colonial Guard and General Williams to hold the line" NADIA stated.

"Sent an encrypted message to the headquarters in Shanxi: tell them that help is coming soon; also send a personal message for Captain Brandon Dewitt of Delta 01 team, tell him that Captain John Taggart has his back and that when this is over the drinks are on me" he ordered. "For now maintain position, we will join the battle sooner or later."

XXXXX

 **2155.07.05**

 **Orbit of Hades Prime, orbital construction yard Revan**

At the orbit of the rocky sterile world of Hades were more than three hundred orbital stations destined to serve as anchorages, dry docks and ship breaking facilities.

The planet was the headquarters of the Commonwealth's Fourth fleet and the main industrial powerhouse of the entire USC. Science fictions writers had constantly compared Hades Prime with the fictional world of Reach from the Videogame Halo; the Systems Commonwealth's fortress among the stars, and the greatest contributor to the USC navy.

Similarities ended there however; the planet was a giant pale rock with a tremendous amount of resources but lacking an atmosphere or ecosystem capable of sustaining massive colonization, or even the necessary qualities required to justify the expense of terraformation. Also from its 600 hundred million inhabitants, Humans were less than 20% of the population, the vast majority was Rachni.

Dome type cities marked the surface of the planet, most belonging to Rachni and humans with a few Kashani and talosian settlements, and finally a small quarian city as well.

Over the Capital city of Ares Hill was perhaps the largest orbital construction Yard in the entire galaxy: a shell like structure, 11kilometers in length, 5 kilometers in width and 4 kilometers in height; an enormous metal box holding the newest generation of carriers of the Commonwealth's fleet.

Those ships were still a secret however, what it was not a secret were the news that humanity was at war with the Turian Hierarchy and that the colony of Shanxi was under siege. In every city on Earth, Hades Prime, Chiron, Shinhon, Praxis, Columbia, Arcadia and practically every human colony public demonstrations had taken the streets, with people screaming for answers and calling the government to send the fleets to liberate Shanxi.

For specialist Jack Harper and his partner Eva Core, this was just the perfect moment for humanity to claim its rightful place on this universe, had they not been called by Admiral Comstock herself the two of them would have gone to Shanxi themselves to show the Turians of what humans were made of.

The shuttle slow vibration reminded Jack Harper that he was no longer on land, and that any hull breath and contact with the void would mean instant death. He would have preferred to simply take the Rift Portal on Ares Hill and cross the threshold into the Revan facility without delay, but they were ordered to take the shuttle as the security on the station was at high alert.

At his side Eva Core his partner, friend and occasional lover looked anxious and impatient, he loved that about her, despite the fact her temper made her lost her chance in the Commonwealth's Marine Corps. According to her instructors she was tough as nails (he could vouch for that). Her grades and combat abilities were so remarkable that she had even been selected as a candidate for the Interplanetary Combatives Training (ICT), until her lack of patience during drill training almost cost one of her teammates his life.

He looked back to the cabin, with their pilot a Kashani female driving the shuttle with proficiency. Those who knew Jack Harper would say without hesitation that he was a little xenophobic, preferring to work with humans that with aliens in almost all situations, but he was not an ignorant fanatic like those idiots members of the GTI, he respected any man or woman no matter from what planet they came, but he was certain that humanity needed to claim a place in the galaxy and maintain their position of leading race of the Commonwealth if they wanted to survive and progress in the future.

"Can you believe we are actually meeting Admiral Comstock?" Eva exclaimed showing excitement for the first time in what it felt like years.

"Yes I know" he answered with a smile before adopting a more serious glare. "But be careful, whatever job she wants us to do, it won't be easy nor it won't be pretty."

"I don't like it pretty nor easy" she answered. "What do you think? It is another operation against the GTI?"

For a moment Jack's mind paused remembering his time as an independent agent for the Commonwealth's Intelligence and Security Bureau (CISB). As an intelligent and respected engineer and candidate for Special Forces Operations, with a rumor history of xenophobia and comments of human supremacy, he was hired to infiltrate a cell of the GTI operating in the colony of Avalon.

He spent months undercover in order to find everything about the GTI operations, recruitment and resources. In the end his actions had prevented the bombing attack by GTI extremist of a Joint human-Talosian research station. Then after the job was done they have offered him a position on the CISB and paid him handsomely, but he had seen a great deal of corruption among the political elements of the USC and he was determined to bring them down by working at both sides of the law, as a mercenary and independent agent.

The shuttle finally reached the hangar of the station and the pilot conducted them outside, in the hangar a full squad of soldiers led by a Talosian officer who lead them to Admiral Comstock office.

In there in a huge office overlooking Hades Prime and the rest of the system from a huge window was Admiral Comstock sitting on her desk.

The Talosian officer saluted her and after receiving a nod from the Admiral he abandoned the room without a word, leaving only the Admiral and the two mercenaries

"Specialists Harper, Specialist Core, please take a seat" she ordered as she pointed to the chairs in front of her desk.

Jack and Eva did as they were told and approached the desk; in the few seconds he was walking towards it Jack made a quick glance to the whole room; several libraries containing true paper books occupied the wall (so she likes traditional means of literature and reading, perhaps she likes to feel the texture of paper on her hands); several toy models of different Commonwealth and Citadel Council ships occupied a table; and there were also some souvenirs brought by Quarian envoys from Citadel space, that even Jack Harper could not recognize.

Eva and Jack took seat facing the Admiral of the First Fleet, as she finished reading a report on her pad; as she put down the pad Jack knew it was time to speak.

"Admiral Comstock is an honor to meet you" he began trying to sound as less ass kisser as possible. "But why did you summon to mercenaries, us here?" he asked in much more dead serious tone.

"Straight to the point, I see" she answered. "I am sure you know about the situation on the colony of Shanxi?"

"Yes, the Turian invasion at the colony and a possible upcoming war with the Citadel Council." Eva answered her face and voice betraying no emotion.

"It is a lot more complicated than that" the Admiral explained. "The High Council has unanimously voted for a clear and blunt response against the Turian aggression and for a join defense of the USC." She made a pause studying the face of the two mercenaries. "However as we not certain that the Citadel Council; the Asari and Salarians have any knowledge about the actions of the Turians, we ordered a quarian team to upload the news of war into their extranet in an attempt to force them to reveal their intentions."

"Our Quarians agents have reported massive demonstrations in the Citadel as people from all the Council and associated races are demanding answers. But most importantly however, is the fact that a join Council fleet is gathering up at the Citadel with a majority of Asari and Salarian warships and only a few Turians ships." She made another pause. "Either they intent to join with the Turian fleet at Shanxi, or the Turians have gone rogue and the Council is moving to bring them and us down." She pressed a few commands on her console and soon an holographic display of the Fujian-Alpha system came into view.

"Currently the Fifth and Sixth fleets have assembled at the Theta nebula ready to liberate Shanxi, but an enemy recon Squad managed to locate them. The Turians have positioned their ships in a defensive formation around the Shanxi-Theta relay, if our fleets come through the relay they will sustain heavy casualties; so the Commonwealth's fleet command is preparing a different strategy and entry point." She explained before adopting a more serious expression.

"Anyway that is not why I brought you here" she finally reached the matter at hand. "Once the liberation of Shanxi is over, one way or the other we will engage in peace talks with the Citadel Council; they will intent to undermine us by any means necessary as we are a threat to their supremacy; while others players hide in the shadows." She made a pause, reaching up to her side and giving Jack and Eva computer pads containing classified reports.

"Our interrogation of the Turian prisoners and their logs have revealed the existence of mysterious force known to the Citadel Council as the Terminus Black Fleet; this apparent pirate group or rogue army has been conducting hit and run attacks through the Attican Traverse against Council worlds. This group seems to possess a great deal of advance technology including Tiamat Magnetic-hydrodynamic Cannons." For a second she stopped studying the curious faces of Jack and Eva. "In a way this Black Fleet is responsible for this conflict between us and the Citadel; as the Turians assumed we had a part in the actions of this Black Fleet, because we also have the Tiamat cannon in our frigates and heavy cruisers; it is very likely that a Terminus Systems nation or alliance has also found a prothean catche of technology and have also reversed engineer the weapon for their use."

"GOING TO THE POINT" she declared. "When or if an armistice is signed between the Commonwealth and the Citadel, I need you to act as independent agents on Citadel Space and the Attican traverse to find anything you can about this pirate Black Fleet which could an even greater threat to mankind that the Citadel Council; you will be provided a ship; a team; gear and funding; but if the Council suspects anything or makes any attempt to hinder your investigation, the Government of the USC won't recognize you and you will be thrown under the bus."

"Are you interested? If you are not then I don't blame and you can walk away, just remember that the moment you cross that door everything we spoke here must remain on this room." She explained.

For a good minute the only sound on that room was the low breathing of three persons, finally Jack looked back to Eva who after some hesitation nodded in agreement.

"We accept" he declared with conviction. "For Humanity's wellbeing we will work with you Admiral."

"Outstanding!" she answered. "For the moment however I need to see what you can do, I will give both of you a position on my personal unit. In two days' time we will depart for Shanxi, are you ready?"

"Yes we are!" they both answered at unison.

"Good; we shall see what you can do Specialist Jack Harper and Specialist Eva Core."

"It will be a privilege serving under your command Admiral Comstock" Eva said with pride.

"When we are alone, you can call me Elizabeth."

XXXXX

 **CODEX:**

 **Axial Colony City:** The basic layout for every standard human colony city since 2086, the funding of a colony world is led by the construction of a colony HUB in the area surveyed and considered to be the richest and easy to exploit of the planet. An orbital station is constructed in geostationary orbit over the settlement; connecting the space station and the colony is the main Axial Colony Hub which holds an enormous Rift portal linked to another rift portal on the station; this system represents a much cheaper alternative to the construction of massive space elevator or the constant transport between the planet and orbit. Colonies can be develop at an impressive rate by transporting materials and supplies back and forth through the portals of the station and colony, while resources extracted can be refined and sent into space by the portal with ease ensuring the minerals, eezo or resources provided by the colony are quickly sent to the rest of the Commonwealth.

The axial city layout is centered on a focal area where one or more arcologies are constructed, near the arcologie lays the Colony Hubs that hold the rift portal linking the city with space alongside several warehouses tasked with storing the massive amounts of cargo transported to and from orbit. Finally there is the construction yard which holds a fabricator and main foundries of the colony, which also serves as the place where resources are processed and used in further constructions.

Aware of the dangers and uncertainties of colonizing outer space and maintaining the dominion of their colonies, the Commonwealth's layout for an Axial City is also meant to keep the inhabitants of the colony as safe as possible. An immense circular structure similar to a particle collider and the rift gate power generation capabilities is built underground around the city serving as the power source for an immense barrier of negative particles known as the taquion shield, protecting the colony from bombardment or a meteor shower. Also in case of an emergency be it an attack, invasion or natural disaster, the axial cities are equipped with underground shelters. As a planet colony grows in population so does the number of axial cities which are established across the planet with the intention of supplying the citizens of the planet with protection as well as ensuring a rapid economic development and viability of the colony.

 **Commonwealth's defensive doctrine – Endurance Strategy:** The use of the Taquion shield on the axial cities has allowed the Commonwealth the considerable advantage of being able to defend their colonies even while lacking orbital supremacy.

The defenders of the colony are tasked with protecting the city as long as they can while bleeding the attacking force dry as well as finding information about the enemy in preparation for an eventual counterattack by Commonwealth's battle groups situated on strategic mass relays or Rift gate Hubs.

 **Colonial Guard and Colonial Militia:** The colonial guard is the basic army unit for human USC colonies, garrisons tasked with protecting the colony aided by drones, AI support, Special Forces and armored divisions depending on the size of the colony. The colonial militia is a secondary support corps formed by members of the colony who fulfilled at least three years of training and service, many of them possessed some minimum training and plasmid enhanced powers.

 **The size of the garrisons is proportional to the size of the colony:**

 **-Station Colony 20,000:** The garrison force for these colonies are Platoons (256 soldiers). A Lieutenant is the CO

 **-Station Colony 20,000-100,000:** The garrison force for these colonies are Companies (1,024 soldiers). A Captain is the CO

 **-Station Colony 100,000-200,000:** The garrison force for these colonies are Cohorts (3,072 soldiers). A Major is the CO

 **-Station Colony 200,000:** The garrison force for these colonies are Battalions (6,144 soldiers). A Lieutenant Colonel is the CO

 **-Arcturus Station:** Arcturus is garrisoned by a Regiment (18,432 soldiers). A Colonel is the CO

 **-Dome Colony 1 Million:** The garrison force for these colonies are Brigades (55,296 soldiers). A Brigadier General is the CO

 **-Dome Colony 1-4+ Million:** The garrison force for these colonies are Divisions (165,888 soldiers). A Lieutenant General is the CO. Each additional domed city gets a brigade garrison until it passes the 1 million mark, where it's garrison is upgrade to a division.

 **-Shirt Sleeve Colony 4 Million:** The garrison force for these colonies are Divisions (165,888 soldiers). A Lieutenant General is the CO

 **-Shirt Sleeve Colony 4 Million – 80 Million:** The garrison force for these colonies are Corps (497,664 soldiers). A Captain General is the CO

 **-Shirt Sleeve Colony 80 Million or more:** The garrison force for these colonies are 1 Corps for each city of 40 million in habitants. An army consists of 3-5 corps, a General is the CO

 **Praetorians:** Cybernetically and genetically enhaced soldiers equipped with state of the art exo suits.

-Bouncer: Designed for minning and heavy working, the Bouncer is equipped with a massive drill and the exo suit focus around an increase of strength and speed.

-Rosie: Designed for repair operations in zero G, also capable of serving as a heavy infantry unit in combat.

 **-Rumbler:** Exclusively designed for combat, equipped with and RPG, mass accelerator cannon and able to deploy mini-turrets.

 **Sand Tiger Hover Tank:** The main battle tank of the Commonwealth's Land force command, the Sand Tiger is a fast and maneuverable vehicle capable of traversing any terrain. Equipped with a Lutece anti gravitation device the Sand Tiger is capable of floating over hostile environments like water or molten magma, as well as "climbing" through nearly vertical mountain ranges without trouble. Approximately 7 meters in length and 4 meters width it is also equipped with a thick Rearden steel armor and top of the line kinetic barriers. The Sand Tiger combines the best qualities of the long discontinued Hammerhead hover tank and Mako troop transport.

The Sand Tiger is an extremely versatile battle tank capable of being deployed from frigates or corvettes into the ground without need for risky landing operations; trusting its internal mass effect core and Lutece levitation device to allow it to descend with security from even orbital drops.

The Sand Tiger was first deployed in real combat during the battle of Shanxi, were its speed and durability made it a formidable foe against the Turian armored units. A Turian Lieutenant once expressed his opinion of the Sand Tiger: "That monster destroyed my whole unit and we barely scratched its paint, we weren't sure if we were to run out of troops before that monster ran out of ammo."

 **Delta 01 Team (Special Forces Unit):** N7 team deployed in Shanxi after the first engagement with the Turian fleet of Admiral Varkus. They were led by Captain Brandon Dewitt a veteran of Operation "battering ram" against an extremist terrorist cell of the GTI who received the rank of N7 for surviving a high risk operation to capture the GTI cell leader.

-Captain Brandon Dewitt

-Lieutenant Alec Ryder

-Sergeant Jon Grissom

-Corporal Caroline Sullivan

-Corporal Tadius Aherm

-Private Sergei Ulman

 **Nocturnal class Stealth Reconnaissance Frigate:** Successor to the Shroud class stealth frigate, a 180 meters long frigate with a compliment of 60 crewmen, tasked with surveying an enemy occupied territory for an eventual attack by ally forces.

 **I believe this was my longest chapter yet, I hope you enjoyed it; pardon me if the battle was too rushed but I think many of you are more interested in the first contact between the Council and Commonwealth than in the far too exploited occupation of Shanxi.**

 **For the record I couldn't just avoid it all together, too many characters from Mass Effect have a cannon connection with the First Contact War. I hope I did a good job by presenting the introduction of so many critical characters.**

 **Next chapter perhaps next month will be the liberation of Shanxi and the long awaited reunion of the Citadel Council and the Systems Commonwealth.**

 **Many thanks to Knight Vigilant Koren, for inspiring me to make this story; and please forgive me for using your Garrizon-Population ratio from your story; you are a better writer than the ones who wrote the cannon of Mass Effect in the first place. I hope I am developing a deep interesting universe for all to explore.**

 **As always: I do not own Mass Effect nor Bioshock**


	10. Chapter 8: Operation Chixulub

**Chapter 8:** **Operation Chixulub**

 **Hello, it has been a while; I was force to focus on my actual job. At least I had been able to think this story through; many of your questions will be answer soon.**

 **For the record, it is my believe that the Mass Effect universe is one of the best space adventure universes that there is; it has more elements in common with The Expanse than with Star Wars or Star Trek. Politics, adventure, characters and cultural deepness are very well treated; and the universe makes sense if you overlook the rushed timeline of the Systems Alliance.**

 **On the other hand Bioshock is more akin to philosophy, mystery, and both the darkness and the light of the human soul; with deep nearly impossible worlds where the best and worst of human nature achieve its zenith.**

 **This story is to see the combination of the best of both universes and explore new relationships between the new characters and cultures.**

 **IF ANYONE WANTS TO BECOME MY BETA READER, PLEASE VOLUNTEER; BIOSHOCK AND MASS EFFECT EXPERTSISE IS RECOMENDED**

 **-Goodpie2: Yes, English is not my first language; I will try to be more meticulous from now on**

 **-UnitedLuck: Lilims are an anomaly, among human population, like the Ardak Yakshi in the Asari; and yes humans can consume dextro proteins but not in the long term. Eat turian or quarian food and you will get cramps**

 **-enji-benjy: In this chapter several secrets the story behind the formation of the USC will be reveal; as well as the theories behind the Protheans disappearance**

 **About the eezo reactors part; yes my bad, I have updated and corrected that chapter**

 **-Shadow: Her true nature shall be reveal in future chapters**

 **-SciFiFanatic358: I am glad to see another Templin Institute and Spacedock fan**

 **-Lord Bacon: Thanks! Just be patient**

 **-T-Biggz: You haven't play much Bioshock, don't you?**

 **Bioshock techs: Plasmids, drones, turrets, portals, teleportation, taquion shielding**

 **N7s are a key part of Mass Effect; of course they will be included**

 **I think you mean Scott and Sarah, and no: By the time Sheppard becomes a N7, they are both children, and they have their own roles to play**

 **-CReaper210: Thanks! Just be patient please**

 **-Superpierce: Thanks! I am glad you are enjoying my story**

 **-Heartfanglive: Just wait and see**

 **-Blaze1992: You don't give the CC enough credit, not everyone in the Council are craven cowards, ignorant and idiots… Only most of them**

 **-DahakStaz: In this chapter we will finally see the encounter**

 **1913 DATE UNKNOWN**

 **Antarctica, Tesla's Gulch**

The pristine white desert that was the Antarctica had always captured the interest of human imagination; it was the fifth size continent on Earth, a desert of ice kilometers above sea level with perhaps the most hostile environment on the planet. It had been declared for decades that it would be the only region of the world forever safe of the predatory human hands. So large and so implacable was the ice covered wasteland that rumors and myths existed in equal proportion to hard theories and scientific observations. A few decades later H. P. Lovecraft will write perhaps his best novel: The Mountains of Madness, about an expedition to Antarctica uncovering a secret civilization kept hidden from the world behind a line of mountains even larger than the Himalayas.

There was no denying that there was truly something ominous about the white continent just a few months ago a British expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott had been declared lost, their frozen corpses found months laters, a morbid testament of just how unforgivable the frozen land was.

Yet its aura of mystery, hostile environment and its unreachable nature made it the ideal location for the construction of a private research complex destined to become the foundation of what would later become the most advanced city of the planet Earth.

A small lodge of scientists and industrialists led by Robert Lutece and Nikola Tesla and funded by a businessman named Jeremiah Fink found a secret channel beneath the ice from where to navigate their privately own submarines to reach a cleft on the continental ice created by the eruption of a volcano that provided an stable terrain and a supply of energy and heat for the complex.

The Atlantis Project as it was called was meant to be a secret outpost where scientists and engineers could develop their inventions in secret and store them without the risk that they could be used in a war by the power hungry nations of the world. Many of the members of the project shared a common believe in which humanity was destined to destroy itself if fanatic and nationalistic sentiments took over, and corrupted their inventions in the service of a full scale war. The facility also served as an Ark capable of storing seeds from all over the world and genetic material from millions of animals waiting for the day when genetic replication technology would be achieved.

The Helios complex was an enormous fortress similar to a bunker that had achieved nearly complete self-sustainability in recent months. An enormous submarine converted into a factory, living complex and laboratory that extracted its energy and heat from the volcano. While plants with nutritive value were cultivate in specially designed hydroponic gardens.

In a makeshift conference room the leaders of the Helios Complex were holding council, the situation in Europe was going critical, war seemed inevitable.

Eight people were sat on the table where a map of the Old Continent had been placed: Nikola Tesla (project leader; Jeremiah Fink (invester); Robert Lutece and Rosalyn Lutece (the genius siblings); Chen-Lin (a machinist and chief of maintenance); Dr. Harrison Powel (chief medical officer); Scofield Sandsmark (chief of security) and Anna Dewitt (code translator and responsible for keeping the secrecy of the project).

"So Miss Dewitt what do you think?" asked Doctor Robert Lutece.

"There is going to be a war, soon enough, we may consider taking most of our outside assets discretely out of Europe." The youngest member of the council answered.

"What about the rest of our promising recruits?" Fink asked. "Dr. Albert Einstein and Madame Curie; for example?"

"For the moment is better is the rest of the candidates are kept on observation, but is a real danger comes to them we should consider extracting them as soon as possible." Professor Tesla answered, clearly stating that his word would be final.

"What happens outside our walls is unimportant we need to focus on improving our infrastructure, if a massive war engulfs Europe it could became increasingly difficult to coordinate our supply lines." Chen-Lin declared.

"I agree" chief of security Sandsmark declared. "My team and I are working on improving our security grid. Only God knows how long we may be able to keep this place secret from the world."

"Hopefully for as long as it takes" Professor Tesla stated. "The incredible technologies we are working on are like the Fire that Prometheus took from the gods and gave to mankind; but if we gave fire to an arrogant and ignorant people not ready to understand it, they will burn the whole forest with it."

Everyone nodded.

"Professor Tesla, sir?" a young man came through the door. "Sorry to interrupt you, but it is time for the annual council picture."

"Ahhh yes, thank you Mr. Cunningham" he answered. "We will be there in a few minutes."

As everyone in the table rose from their seats, they adjusted their ties, jackets and every detail on their clothes. After a few minutes they gathered up in the central atrium of the Helios complex in a clear formation with Professor Tesla on the center.

The photographer a young mister named Rupert Cunningham, asked them to straight up and be ready as he adjusted his camera. A flash of light and the image was recorded for history.

XXXXX

 **2155.07.08**

 **Juttenheim System; Erebus Nexus**

 **Human history museum in the Coeus Cardinal Pylon**

Doctor Karin Chakwas a young medic on her twenties assigned to the flagship of the Erebus Nexus Defense Fleet flagship; the fleet carrier _CSV Stephen Hawking_ was currently on short leave at the station as the fleet was organizing the fleets in a battle group for the liberation of Shanxi. She had taken the time to visit the museum on the Coeus Pylon, in the wing of Earth history, more specifically on the twentieth century exhibition she observed with interest the black and white photograph of the founders of the Atlantis project more than two centuries ago.

The revelation of the existence and history of the Atlantis project and its successor state, the Rapturian Objectivistic Republic had been a huge hit for the history books; historians had been forced to add several new chapters on the timeline of the twentieth century to the overall human history. Many had criticized the secrecy of both projects but a lot of people had recognize the need and desire to maintain their work a secret and their new technologies safe from the hands of wrong people like ultra-nationalists and fanatics like the Nazis. After all humanity and the USC had decided to maintain their existence secret from the Citadel Council and the rest of the galaxy; in order to keep themselves safe from a galaxy that could fear them or crave their resources and discoveries.

It was amazing just how similar Dr. Anna Dewitt was to Admiral Elizabeth Comstock, they had the same eyes, facial bone structure and sharp eyes; even though the girl two centuries ago was on her twenties and the USC admiral was 45 years old; according to Wikipedia's biographies the great grandmother of the Admiral was a Dewitt which made Admiral Comstock a long descendant of one of the founders of the Atlantis project.

The rapturian exhibition showed a lot of the construction of Rapture on Antarctica on 1947, the technologies and developments used in the operation to build the city had been critical for the future developments of space stations and dome colonies on zero atmosphere planets.

Yet the most important discovery of the ROR was the research of the stem cell known as ADAM, which had not only allowed giant leaps on genetic engineering but also the development of new materials and branches of science.

A great majority of humanity in the last century had been gone through a limited state of gene therapy, most of genetically inherited conditions had been erased and a limited state of eugenics was allowed in some colonies like Praxis. But free will and the freedom of choice was considered 'sacred' in a way; so a gattaca like method was illegal, genetic determinism was forbidden, you could not 'design' children from the womb.

Genetic augmentations were implanted on people at their request not force on them, from before birth.

Plasmids and bio medi-gel had been first develop in Rapture and when the Republic revealed itself to the world, ADAM derived products and enhancements started to be mass product and develop first all across Earth and then all around Human and USC colonies.

Outside of its scientific discoveries, 'Rapturian art' and culture had also spread across humanity. Most of the buildings of the Erebus Nexus's Pylon cities were built in the unmistakable Neo-Deco style, of Rapture.

Similar to the so call 'Citadel's wards' the Pylons were like petals of a flower connected to the central outer ring of the Erebus Nexus, holding entire cities specially designed to sustain the biological needs and most optimal environments for the five species of the USC.

Finally after a while, Karin realized it was getting late and she needed to go, abandoning the museum she called a cab and headed for the commercial district of the Coeus Pylon.

XXXXX

As planed she met with her friends on the Kashmir Café for lunch, they were all worried about the situation brewing on the frontier, just a few days ago a protest against the lack of response from the government and High Council almost erupted in a riot at the Ryan Plaza on the Kronos Upper Ring, requiring the intervention of the Erebus Guard to break the riot before it began. Luckily the response of both the Prime Minister and Chairman Fitzroy had calmed the nerves of most; those who were concerned about the lack of action felt better after the news of the deployment of the fifth and sixth fleet, in an assembled battle group to liberate Shanxi.

There was also a latent fear that the lack of action from the rest of the members of the USC, would dissolved in a wave of xenophobia and witch hunts for a scape goat. The news that the first fleet was going to take part in the retake of the F ujian-Alpha system had mostly cut down those fears. The Erebus Nexus Defense Fleet was tasked with protecting the construct that was the capital of the USC, the bulk of the fleet was composed by the Human First fleet of the Human Federation, but surrounding the station were hundreds of other ships not only human. The ENDF stood more than a thousand ships strong: with Talosian, Rachni, Kashani and even Quarian ships helping to defend the beating heart of the Commonwealth.

"Could you believe; that they are still waiting?" Doctor Thus ke Palmuk a male kashani and one of her colleagues working on the Tenembaun Foundation Hospital declared after taking a sip of his coffee. "Three fleets have been assembled and the Turians are still on Shanxi; what is the High Council doing?"

"The High Council is only balancing the political and economic cost between doing nothing or risk starting a war with the Turian Hierarchy and perhaps the Citadel." Nait Hyut'Lindr a female talosian lieutenant of the Erebus Guard stated. "The admirals on the other hand may be thinking about how to kick the Turian out of USC space with a minimum amount of casualties."

"I have a friend in the Arcturus Station garrison Regiment, Sargent David Anderson; they are preparing to embark with the fifth fleet in the operation to recover Shanxi" the last person on the table besides Karin, Dr. Damian Langford a field medic for the Commonwealth Marine Corps stated. "I will also embark with them" he made a pause. "I am a little nervous for it."

"Don't worry, you won't be alone, I will be joining with the first fleet as well; when we move against the Turians" Karin answered.

"So a war is coming to all of us." Nait stated with a tone of dread. "May the Mother of Equilibrium guide us all."

"Only if the Citadel Council wants a war" Thus ke answered.

"Let's hope that they don't, and that the Asari are the peace loving maidens the quarians claim they are." Kari added. "A battle generally ends with me patching a lot of brave yet idiot soldiers; a war on the other hand ends with a lot of empty chairs on the tables of multiple families."

Everyone's faces turn somber, besides the life of the city and transit around them, the only sound there was the breathing of four people and the sips of coffee they were taking.

Later that day Karin would be inform she was also going to take part in the operation as the First fleet would participate in Operation Chicxulub.

XXXXX

 **2155.07.08**

 **CSV Marcus Aurellius; in orbit of the colony of New Indus**

 **Fujian-Delta system; Lambda Expanse**

For Commodore Lillian Meltzer it felt as it ages had passed since she abandoned the orbit of Shanxi, even though barely more than a week has passed. Every report coming from the besieged colony felt like another dagger striking her chest, even though she had her orders and it was better to live to fight another day, she felt as she had abandoned every man, woman and child on Shanxi.

But now they were mere hours away from beginning Operation Chicxulub.

 _Yes it was a nearly unpronounceable and weird name, but it was suiting, as the Chicxulub crater on the peninsula of Yucatan was the supposed impact location of the meteor that had caused the extinction of the dinosaurs; and many of the soldiers fighting on Shanxi had adopted the nickname 'dinobird' while referring to the Turians. Operation Chicxulub was going to be the first real combat scenario for the Commonwealth's offensive-counterstrike doctrine; a massive operation to kick the Turians out of Shanxi and sent them back to where they came from._

"Are all our ships ready?" Commodore Meltzer asked to her CIC.

"Our remaining destroyers have been repaired and prepared" MARCOS explained in his synthetic voice.

"Our fighters and corvettes, had been refitted, we have also reinforced our numbers with crafts from the CSV Horatio Nelson" her deck officer informed. "We have a full complement now."

"Commodore we have received confirmation of Commodore Kapoor of the CSV Horatio Nelson, and admirals Le Fleur and Comstock" the flag lieutenant Steven Hackett informed her. "Now it begins."

"No Lieutenant! Now it ends!" she answered quoting someone she did not remember who.

"Are you sure, we should try this tactic, commodore?" he stuttered for a moment. "I mean some people would consider it outright madness, not to mention we do not even know if the Rift siphon generator is capable to sustain so many jumps in such quick succession?"

"I am surprise Lieutenant" she answered. "I mean this was your idea, by the way, how did you come up with this mad maneuver?"

"Well, in truth…" he stuttered. "I was inspired by an old science fiction TV series, Star Trek."

"You are kidding me…" she answered. "But to be fair, human imagination and fiction has always had a huge influence in our space exploration, and protocols."

 _The Cole Protocol for example, in which a ship at the risk of capture must whipped its computer core clean or engage self-destruct, in order to prevent capture; was based on 'the Cole protocol' from the videogame Halo. Being inspired by a console videogame, a TV series or a comic didn't make an idea or a plan less admissible than any other._

"What is the name of this particular tactic?" she asked the lieutenant.

"The Picard Maneuver" he answered.

XXXXX

 **2155.07.09**

 **Star Base Theta; Theta Nebula**

In an enormous docking bay at the Star Base Theta; troops, vehicles and military hardware were being loaded into transport ships for the beginning of Operation Chicxulub, the invasion to retake Shanxi.

Even though the star base was the active headquarters of the USC forces on the cluster, the station was generally only defended by up to four full strength flotillas from the Second and Third fleets, but now as the enemy hold the Fujian-Alpha system, more than a thousand ships of the First, Fifth and Sixth fleet had been assembled on the single largest battle fleet in human history, holding position around the station right next to the Lambda-Shanxi relay waiting for the moment to cross into occupied territory.

Sargent David Anderson of the Arcturus First Division was preparing to embark with the rest of his men. Most of them did not look too eager to march for war. Yes as images and messages came from Shanxi and the garrison of the colony, every men and women on the First Division was thirsty for Turian blood. There was also an eagerness to fight, as the news that the colonial guard was holding its own against the so call 'best fighting force of the galaxy' had emboldened the troops; the Commonwealth's marines in particular seem poised to prove themselves and show these aliens, of what humans were made of.

Yet there was a glimpse of doubt and uncertainty on the faces of everyone, humanity has not been engaged on real warfare in more than a century, the Commonwealth's soldiers were the best of humanity's military had to offer, but they haven't fight against aliens in a true battlefield besides training drills with their USC ally militaries (Talosian, Kashani or Quarian), or the legendary first encounter on the planet Kaldir on 2108.

Odds were in their favor however, the Quinhai garrison was already given the Turians hell, Commodore Meltzer had crushed the first turian fleet that came through the relay, and thanks to the Quarian intel, Highcom already knew a great deal of Turian combat doctrine and strategies, while they did not knew anything about fighting the Commonwealth's army on a real battle.

They say the best defense is offense, if this is true then the Turian were in for a nasty surprise.

No one knew what the strategy for the attack on the system was, other than the defensive position of the Turian fleet around the Shanxi-Theta relay guarantied heavy casualties on the threshold engagement.

According to a few rumors the surviving ships of the Fujian-Alpha defense flotilla under Commodore Meltzer had met with the Fujian-Delta defense fleet under Commodore Kapoor, for an operation to harass the Turian fleet and weaken their defensive position. Sargent Anderson was an infantry man but even he knew that if both flotillas moved against the Turians they were going to be outnumbered six to one, and completely outgunned against two dreadnoughts. He did not like those odds, not to mention that Commodore Meltzer and her fleet had done enough already, asking them to sacrifice more lives in the liberation of Shanxi did not seem right.

An entire army corps of nearly half a million soldiers had been gathered, amongst the troops present were soldiers coming from nearly every nation of Earth and its colonies. Even though the standard uniform of the USC's navy was designed to only include the insignia of the Commonwealth and in a way portray an unified humanity and USC, the army's officers however used an hybrid uniform that show their birth nation's flag on the shoulder. Through the hangar, David could see hundreds of Americans, Chinese, Russians, French, British (like him), Indians, Rapturians, Japanese and dozens of other flags that he was not familiar with; there were even a few soldiers of the independent colonies, with the flag of the Praxian Directorate and the Shinoan Republic. It was impressive seeing practically all of humanity united in purpose for this historical moment.

His thoughts were interrupted when a sharp sound drilled through his eardrums:

"[Alarm Noise] All USC personal stand by, for a priority message" the speakers shouted in a feminine clearly synthetic voice, before being replace by a human and clearly familiar voice.

"This is Fleet Admiral Elizabeth Comstock addressing to every sailor, soldier and crewman who is about to face the Turian forces occupying Shanxi." The determined voice of the highest ranking officer of the USC's navy was broadcast through the speakers.

"You stand at the threshold of history; this is the moment when mankind and the USC claim their place on this universe. The Turians and the Citadel, believe us to be barbarians, to be primitive, to be weak and ignorant beings not worthy of ruling ourselves. They are sorely mistaken!"

As she took a pause, a loud YEAAHHH was shouted across the entire station and fleet.

"Look to the man or woman next to you and you will find that soldiers of every nation, of every planet have gathered here, to fulfill this mission; even our allies from the USC have come to provide us support. No matter what separate us all, it shall be known to all that mankind stands together and it will fight as one to defend their own! Today we show the Turians, the Citadel Council and the entire galaxy the strength of the indomitable will of the human spirit and the power of our intellect! Today we will burn their ships and break their army, in an attack that will mark in fire our place in history! Let it be known today! Humanity has been awoken and now the galaxy shall see our might!"

"HURRAAAHHHH!" was shouted by every man and woman on the hangar, in a thundering shout that seem capable to shake the very bulkheads.

"Operation Chicxulub will begin in two hours, stand ready!" the voice of the admiral finished the message.

As Sargent Anderson and his team boarded their ship and loaded their equipment he glimpsed a shadow of nervous and hesitation in a few of his men. A soldier in particular was looking at a picture on his data wrist perhaps his girlfriend, his wife or his sister; too young to be his mother, he was thinking the same though everyone shared: Am I to survive this? Will I return home alive? Will I ever see you again?

He knew he had to make something to calm the nerves of everyone, so he turned to the soldier next to him, Private Hendricks.

"So Hendricks, how is your mother doing?" David asked.

"Fine" he said, confused. "Why?"

"Cause I heard your momma was so ugly the marines thought she was a turian…Almost shot her" he joked, that get him a few smiles.

Then Hendriks turned to him and said. "Hell Anderson, I heard it was a picture of your momma that started this whole war in the first place. Scared the turians shitless."

Everyone laugh and Anderson did as well, he was certain they were going to be okay. They were determined, relaxed and prepared for whatever the universe throw at them.

XXXXX

 **2155.07.09**

 **HWS Spirits of Justice**

 **Banner ship of Turian 10° Fleet, Admiral Victus**

Never in his life has Admiral Lonrel Victus felt so conflicted and frustrated. The messenger ship that came through the relay the day before had informed them that someone had uploaded the details of this disastrous operation into the extranet. The Hierarchy was on chaos, the public wanted answers about the first contact with the humans; their allies and ambassadors specially those of the Volus Protectorate wanted a confirmation of the question on everyone's mouth: "Are we at war? And how this war started?"

On the planet, the battle for Shanxi had turned into a war of attrition, with Turian and Human forces fighting a grinding urban battle that was crippling both of their numbers. There was nothing worse for a Turian General than fighting an enemy well entrenched without orbital support, the Krogan rebellions were a prime example of this, even though the Krogan did not generally fight on the defensive.

The capture of General Arterius has also been a huge hit in the troop's morale and casualties had multiplied since; with the human forces launching counterstrikes and sabotages against General Orinia's troops.

The worst of these attacks had been the destruction of the supplies reserves at the main base, most of their food supplies had been lost, and without proper supply lines, their chances to maintain the siege around the human city for more than a few more days.

His family was worried, even though they have received orders from command and the Primarch they had gone against the first contact protocols of the Council, this was going to be a political nightmare for the Hierarchy, he doubted they could turn him into a patsy, and relegate the blame on him and his subordinates.

The political and military prestige of the Hierarchy could be destroyed however if this ended in a stalemate or worse even a defeat.

He could not help but curse that idiot of Admiral Varkus for getting them into this mess; if he had just stayed his talons and contacted the humans diplomatically, may be they could just be convinced to initiate diplomatic contact with the Citadel Council, with their technology, abilities and military power they may have become a substantial addition to the Citadel. But of course that spirits damned idiot had lost his life, his fleet and has drove his people into a war they didn't want.

Even if they defeat the human fleet located at the other edge of the relay and finally capture that damned city, there were going to be repercussions, the Humans were going to be furious and if they did not bring them into the fold, forcefully if necessary they could become a serious threat to all of Citadel space.

The Turian fleet under his and Admiral Survan had called reinforcements and assume a defensive formation around the relay linking to inner human space; their position was their only true advantage even with their reinforcement they stood equal in numbers to the human punitive fleet; which contain more than a hundred heavy cruisers and six dreadnoughts. Not to mention that the hard truth was that the human warships were more advance than theirs.

His omni-tool blinked with a high priority message from the bridge, he immediately sprinted towards his command post, arriving at the bridge in under a few minutes. His crew saluted at him when he arrived.

"Admiral we have detected multiple FTL signals on the edge of the system" his scan officer informed him.

"Human?" he asked.

"I am afraid so, it looks like Commodore Meltzer fleet, the one that retreated in the first engagement." The officer informed him.

"So she has return to attempt to liberate the world she abandoned without a fight" he said.

"Long range scanners have counted 74 ships: 1 Carrier, 13 Heavy Cruisers, 38 destroyers and 22 frigates" he informed. "It is the entire remaining Shanxi defense's fleet."

"They may be trying to force us out of position to allow an opening for the fleet on the other side of the relay" he deduced. "Contact Admiral Survan" he ordered.

"Already done sir" the comm technician said.

As they established a link with Admiral Survan's banner ship, he took a quick peek at the energy reading of the human fleet, according to the scanners Commodore Meltzer's fleet has arrived on the system through normal FTL, the signals detected confirmed the presence of dark energy and mass effect cores on those ships. They haven't used their rift gate jump apparently.

The interrogation of their prisoners have revealed some information regarding human technology, the so call 'rift gate' FTL method apparently use some kind of energy wormhole that created a threshold between two points of space and time. According to the humans this method allowed them to reach, explore, survey and ultimately colonize and exploit systems located between the clusters connected by the mass relay network. If all of this was true then the humans may possessed more colonies and resources than the entire Citadel races. He was truly hoping that the fleet on the other side of the relay was the bulk if not the entirety of the human fleet, otherwise this war could last for decades if not centuries; and their names would be tarnish through history as the idiots who started another rachni war or krogan rebellion.

Soon the hologram of Admiral Survan appeared in the middle of the bridge, right next to Admiral Victus who stood on the elevated platform, overlooking the holographic table projecting their fleet in position next to the mass relay, and after zooming at the edge of that system, the enemy fleet moving towards Shanxi using normal thrusters.

So their objective seems to be the colony, they are probably planning to attack our support ships and troops stationed there, forcing us to move our ships and weakened our defensive formation. The human fleet had clearly assumed an attack formation with their heavy cruisers in the front; their cruisers and frigates on their flanks and that huge carrier flagship in the center.

"Sir, human fleet is hailing us" the comm technician said.

Before Victus could react, Admiral Survan cut him off. "Don't answer it, the only thing I want to hear of those ships are their hulls exploding."

"We will destroy Commodore Meltzer's fleet and secure this system finally" she declared. "I am assigning two hundred of my ships under the command of rear admiral Kyrean Naleus to intercept and destroy them, while our bannerships and the rest of the fleet maintain position."

"Understood, I will order three of my varren packs of frigates and five of our fighter squadrons to aid them" he answered.

As ordered a portion of the fleet moved from the main force and assumed an intercept course for the enemy fleet, with the fighters and frigates standing at the front of the formation. Surprisingly the human fleet changed course on an intercept trajectory for Rear admiral Naleus's fleet.

The carrier began deploying its compliment of fighters and corvettes with their entire frigate group converging on the front of the formation.

Separated by hundreds of thousands of miles both fleets opened fire on each other, with their respective cruisers firing their long range mass accelerator cannons, projectiles crossing the void at hyper speeds. Meanwhile both squadrons of fighters and frigates accelerated their engines at maximum to intercept each other; Turians had the numbers but the human squadron had the better ships and with corvettes and frigates ready to intercept the enemy attack ships with their advance tracking guardian arrays.

In both sides the cruisers kinetic barriers flared as the shots reached their targets while the frigates and attack ships were small and agile enough to avoid fire. Reaching attack range the fighters opened fire against their counterparts; human corvettes spread out in several formations and opened fire with their ion laser point defense cannons, wing after wing of turian fighters was being blinked out of existence by them. The fight between human and turian fighters was more balanced, the first were larger and resilient but the second had a higher level of maneuverability.

Soon the squads of frigates reached each other, the leading human frigates opened fire with the Tiamat cannons destroying the leading turians frigates as the rest of them unleashed their entire payload of disruptor torpedoes against the enemy.

Rear Admiral Naelous adopted an attack wall formation attempting to maximize the fire on the enemy fleet using their superior numbers to their advantage.

"Admiral the human carrier is deploying its rift gate device" the scan technician shouted, to the confusion of the bridge crew and the admiral. "Energy readings are identical even though lower in scale to the ones recorded in the previous retreat."

"Anomalous gravitational anomaly detected 200 miles at the stern of Rear Admiral Naelous's fleet." Another technician reported.

To the confusion of the entire bridge, the holographic table began showing two new wormholes like anomalies in the space of the battle: one located right in front of the human fleet and one behind the turian fleet. To the shock of the entire room, mass accelerator shots from the human ships went through the anomaly and emerged right at the other side, hitting a few of the turian vessels right behind the formation.

Maintaining formation around the carrier the human cruisers and heavy cruisers crossed the anomaly and appeared right behind the turian fleet, the anomaly collapsing behind them. As soon as they emerged they opened fire with their entire arsenal including their heavy cruisers Tiamat cannons over Naeslous fleet.

 _Spirits be damned, they use their rift gates to perform a short range FTL jump in order to assume a better firing position._

Admiral Victus had studied that tactic on the academy, Asari ships like the Destiny Ascension generally had a hole on their center because they had two drive cores, unable to contain the power of both mass effect cores interacting one with the other, the asari left the center of their ships as an empty hollow where a storm of dark energy and eezo particles was contained. While this was expensive and in some cases extremely unpractical it provided the asari ships with a considerable edge: the ability to FTL jump from one system to another using one drive core, attack as hard and efficient as possible and then retreat before the situation turn against them using the second drive core while the first was recharging. This was the base of the Asari space combat doctrine, hit and run attacks. Turians didn't use this method but Hierarchy's admirals and officers were trained to perform short range FTL jumps in order to close distance with an enemy fleet or assume a better position. It was clear that the humans had arrive into the system using normal FTL jump and then using their rift gate jump to bypass Naeslous's formation and close range with the enemy.

In the mere seconds that passed since the anomaly closed, the entire Human fleet had begun to open fire on the turian warship's sterns, destroying several cruisers with a single shot of their heavy cruisers tiamat cannons. Dozens of ships had been lost, and Victus mandibles clenched together in frustration for the loss of so many good turians, yet he knew that tactic could not last, Naeslous's fleet was changing formation and they were beginning to return fire.

"Admiral we are reading another gravitational anomaly at Naeslous's fleet starboard side" the scan technician informed.

"What?" he asked.

Before the crewman could answer, another set of two rift anomalies were opened with one again in front of the human carrier and fleet and the other on the starboard side of the turian fleet. Just like they did before the human fleet crossed the wormhole and emerged right on the flank of the turian fleet, both anomalies quickly vanished.

Spirits!? They are changing position in the blink of an eye using their wormholes to avoid fire of the turian cruisers axial guns and redeploy themselves at the best firing positions against the turian ships. Not to mention they know just where to hit, redeploying themselves above and behind the turian ships, carefully aiming their most vulnerable subsystems.

Before Naeslous's fleet could even regroup itself the human fleet once again jump from position at the Turian fleet's bow, destroying or crippling the turian ships at a terrifying rate.

"Admiral!" the com officer shouted. "Rear admiral Naeslous banner ship was destroyed, his ships are no acting as individual vessels and several captains are requesting support and orders."

"Enough with this, I am moving the 11° fleet to deal with these spirits damned humans" admiral Survan informed.

"You cannot abandon formation, if that fleet comes through the relay, they will wipe all of us" he said to his fellow admiral.

"We destroyed the com buoys of this system; the humans cannot inform their fleet of our position, if we don't deal with them now that fleet could shatter our forces."

"What if the humans can inform their fleet of our movements, losing your dreadnought and your ships in the formation would cripple our defense."

"They won't! Because we will destroy them before they do! And I am not losing any more Turian brothers and sisters because of that damn Commodore Meltzer and her fleet."

Despite his protests the 11° fleet centered on the HWS Vostra assumed formation and performed a short range FTL jump to a position 500 kilometers at the starboard of the remains of Naeslous's fleet and the last position of the human fleet.

It was a good tactic, the 11° fleet and its dreadnought on one side, the remaining Naeslous's ships on the other and the humans in the middle; if the humans were to remain on that position both turian flotillas could converge on them in a pincer move and if they jump to the flank of one of the flotillas, Admiral Survan could use their overwhelming numbers to protect their flanks in a defensive sphere formation around her dreadnought.

As expected the human fleet summoned another wormhole and jumped right behind Admiral Survan's fleet, Victus dropped a sight of relieve, that lasted less than a few seconds.

"Admiral we are detecting another anomaly on vector 60 degrees from the 11° fleet" the scan officer shouted. "This one if far larger than the other, energy readings are off the scale!"

"Impossible! the carrier ship has not summoned another portal…" he stuttered before realizing, the carrier and its fleet were not a diversion they were the bait, and Admiral Survan had fallen in the trap.

XXXXX

"Turian fleet on position" Commodore Meltzer informed through the quantum entanglement communicator. "DAGGER redeploying, now it is your turn Admiral Comstock, DROP THE HAMMER!"

"Rift opening, cavalry has arrived" lieutenant Steven Hackett informed.

XXXXX

"Ships emerging from the anomaly, counting two hundred fighters and corvettes and three dozen frigates, IFF confirm human profiles" a bridge officer informed.

"Ships accelerating and heading for Admiral Survan's fleet" another said.

"New ships from the anomaly: sixteen cruisers, nine heavy cruisers; more ships emerging" the first officer informed without breath, Victus could not blame him it was like seeing a breach on the fabric of space and time spiting the human vessels out.

"Several new signals, numbers confirmed: five hundred attack vessels, ninety two frigates, fifty cruisers, thirty five heavy cruisers and…" everyone was frozen in shock when the last tree human vessels crossed the threshold as the anomaly collapsed and vanish from existence.

"Confirmed, two dreadnought class ships: 1350 meters long, an estimated axial gun of more than 150 kilotons" the com officer explained in shock before passing to the next ship. "One super dreadnought class ship: 1620 meters long, axial gun projected to be above 200 kilotons of power."

The recently arrived fleet didn't waste any time and immediately opened fire on the turian fleet. Those two dreadnoughts made honor to their size, their mass accelerator cannons broke through the barriers of every turian cruiser they fire upon. The frigates and attack ships accelerated and unleashed all of their missiles, cannons and energy weapons on the front line cruisers. The ships of Admiral Survan were being blinked out of existence, without even the time to return fire. Worse still the surviving ships of Naeslous's fleet had been left out of position with the 11° fleet blocking their line of fire.

Commodore Meltzer fleet has also opened fire on the 11° fleet and with their new reinforcements, they stood equal in number to the Turian forces, not to mention that the two dreadnoughts were tearing through Survan's fleet as if her ships were made of paper.

"Victus my forces are being overwhelm, move your fleet and help me!" she ordered through the com.

"I can't do that, if I abandon the formation the human fleet will…"

"The human fleet is here already!" she shouted through the com. "If my fleet is destroy, it will not matter if the rest of their fleet comes through that relay."

For a second Admiral Victus looked around the bridge and saw the faces of his crew, no one wanted to abandon the 11° fleet to die.

"All ships converge on the Spirits of Justice we are going to perform a short range FTL jump and support the fleet of Admiral Survan" he ordered through the intercom.

The cruiser broke the formation and the frigates moved to the side in order to perform the short jump formation with the banner ship at the front acting as the tip of the spear.

"Oh No!" the scan officer nearly shouted. "We have activity on the relay" he informed.

Admiral Victus grabbed the rail of the command table so hard that his talons left scratches on the metal. At the holographic display, the ring of the mass relay begun turning faster and faster before coughing out dozens and then hundreds of human attack fighters, then dozens of frigates and several cruisers.

He looked back to the moment Commodore Meltzer fleet arrived at the system, they had done exactly what the humans wanted, in an incredible display of coordination and planning the human fleet had force them out of their defensive formation trapped them in weak position and called upon perhaps the entirety of their navy to cripple their forces.

With haste his ships returned to the defensive formation and begin firing on the enemy ships, unfortunately the human vessels even the slow heavy cruisers had also managed to turn and were beginning to return fire with their axial guns, covering those ships that haven't crossed the relay and turn around yet.

For the moment he still possessed the numerical advantage, but the human fighters and corvettes squadrons were making some critical damage on his ships, unleashing their torpedoes on his cruiser line and hunting his remaining fighters, as he had sent most of them to aid Naeslous's fleet. He had the entirety of his frigates to intercept them, but it was not enough and the human frigates had proven to be as dangerous as their cruisers.

The situation took a turn for the worse when a group of carriers emerged from the relay with their respective squadrons, instead of turning to face his formation, the five carriers summoned each a wormhole. Before his crew was able to pin point their exit location, two of the squadrons emerged from the back of the formation with their guns aiming at their sterns; two more at his starboard flank and the last his port side.

"Admiral we are surrounded" his captain informed him.

As he looked at the holographic display seeing his fleet being decimated and now being fire on all sides with no room to maneuver, a single shot from a human heavy cruiser impacted his ship, everyone tumbled as the ship was shaken, and consoles and energy relays overloaded and exploded throwing sparks all around the bridge. The holographic table blinked as two new giant anomalies appeared above his formation spitting each two human dreadnoughts and one super dreadnought. The four dreadnoughts opened fire as soon their bows had passed through the anomaly shattering every cruiser or frigate they fire upon with a single shot of their axial guns. The rest of their cannons proved to be not as deadly but just as accurate. The super dreadnoughts instead began releasing their entirety of their payload of attack ships and torpedoes, with the Gardian arrays of his ships being overwhelms by the number of targets coming towards them.

His fleet was being torn to pieces and with the arrival of the human capital ships his chances of victory were null.

A thousand thoughts ran through his mind as he watched both his and Admiral Survan's fleet being decimated, taking a deep breath he made an order that may forever curse him for all history.

"Hail the human fleet" he ordered to the com officer, who looked at him confused then he activated the intercom to the entire fleet.

"This is admiral Victus, all ships, cease fire, we surrender" his tone was almost the one of a dead man, if turian ships used a throne like captain's chair he would have collapsed into it.

First the Turian guns fell silent and then the humans, for the very first time since the Krogan rebellions a Turian commander had surrendered to an enemy.

XXXXX

On the other edge of the system the situation was far from solved. The remains of rear admiral Naeslous's fleet had performed a short range FTL jump into a position at 45 degrees from the human attacking fleet, flanking them and drawing the fire of one of the human dreadnoughts, giving admiral Survan's fleet a more leveled playground.

Unlike the battle of the Shanxi-Theta relay which was an almost 'knife fight' at medium and close range. In the battle at the Fujian-Alpha's edge each fleet was separated by thousands of miles from each other making it a long range artillery engagement, with the dreadnoughts becoming the central piece of the battle. With their cannons having being fired for almost an hour, heat was started to build in within the hull of all ships, forcing some of them to cease fire and vent heat.

In the space between the fleets, 'dog fighting' between the smaller ships was taken place. Turian squadrons fought without rest to protect their capital ships from enemy bombers.

"Admiral, the human banner ship is hailing us" in the bridge of the HWS Vostra, a crewman informed Admiral Survan.

"Open the channel" she ordered, as requested the hologram of a human female about Commodore Meltzer age or older appeared on the display, unlike the Commodore, this female was brunette with blue eyes similar to the ones of an Asari, and clear aura of authority on her person.

"This is Fleet Admiral Elizabeth Comstock of the USC's navy" she stated. "Admiral Victus and his fleet have surrendered, do the same; no one else has to die today."

"I am Admiral Nyreen Survan of the Turian 11° fleet, and I will not surrender to you human!" she stated with disdain.

"Enough people have died Admiral Survan" the human admiral declared with conviction. "Our fleets have arrived, you are outnumbered and outgunned admiral, surrender at once or I will order the rest of my ships to converge on your position and decimate your fleet."

"NO! This is just the beginning human, your victory here means nothing; my people will never stop. We will call upon our allies and you will see as the full might of the Citadel comes down of your Earth!" she stated before cutting off the transmission.

"All ships cover the Vostra" she ordered through the intercom.

"Helmsman prepare for a short range jump to the outer relay" he ordered to the confusion of her entire bridge crew. According to the readings the drive core has had enough time to recharge.

"Admiral?" the helmsman asked, with clear indignation at his commanding officer. "Are we abandoning our fleet?"

"We have no choice lieutenant, it is clear we have awoken a sleeping giant, if we do not bring the data of this battle to the Hierarchy and Council, the humans will be able to invade Citadel space, with a clear advantage."

"Then we should our frigates through the relay, while we cover their retreat" the captain of the ship suggested.

"No, we cannot let the humans capture or destroy another Turian dreadnought" she answered. "We will face the consequences of our actions and I will accept the judgment of our people. But I swore on all spirits that we will survive and return home." She stated.

For a moment no one said anything finally accepting the admiral's judgment with the Turian way of thinking inside them reminding them that she was their superior and her orders were final; even though it seems like she was sacrificing the entire fleet to save herself.

Soon the Turian cruiser formed up around the dreadnought protecting it with their bodies, by being unable to fire their main guns soon a few then dozens of Turian ships begun being blown apart by heavy human fire, yet they did not break their defensive pattern.

XXXXX

"Commodore the Turian fleet is breaking formation, they appear to be converging on a defensive shield around their flagship" lieutenant Hackett informed Commodore Meltzer on the CIC of the _Marcus Aurelius_.

"What are they doing?" she asked MARCOS, the hologram of the AI blinked his eyes and calculated the most probable strategies and moves.

"Their vector of direction points to the coordinates of the Lambda-Zodiac relay. Must probable course of action, would be a high risk retreat" he answered.

"So are they escaping? Arrogant cowards" Hackett said, as the commodore contacted their Admiral.

"Admiral Comstock, the Turian fleet is…" she said.

"Fleeing I know, they may be attempting to cover their flagship's escape; I am moving my ships to intercept them, but I doubt we may be able to prevent Admiral Survan's retreat." She answered.

Commodore Meltzer look to the holographic display of the battle, watching all the wreckage from their ships, how many lives had been lost in this battle. How many more would have to die if Admiral Survan was allowed to escape and return with reinforcements.

"Yeahh" Commodore Meltzer said with impatience, before adopting a more serious tone. "I don't think so!" she declared with conviction. "MARCOS can we perform another short range rift jump?"

"We have enough energy for one more jump Commodore, why?" he asked.

"THEY ARE NOT GETTING AWAY" she declared. "We are blocking their path to the relay; calculate a trajectory to intercept the enemy fleet."

The entire CIC froze in place but no matter what they look at their commodore and stood ready to follow her orders.

"I would not suggest this tactic, Lillian, but I will defer to your judgment" Admiral Comstock stated. "Do what you must." She ordered as the hologram vanished.

"Without a gravity well anchor, the coordinates for the rift exit would not be precise, Commodore" MARCOS informed her.

"Understood, just positioned us in front of that fleet" she ordered, before turning to the intercom. "Commonwealth's ships formed on the Aurelius prepared for one last rift jump" she ordered.

XXXXX

"Admiral the human fleet is surrounding us, multiple casualties around the formation" her captain stated.

"Maintain course, we are leaving this spirits damned system" she ordered.

"Admiral!" the scan officer shouted. "Wormhole anomaly located right in front of us" he informed.

 _So they want to block out path, they are tenacious I will give them that._

"Change course, take us to the anomaly; prepare our main gun; target the rift and anything that comes out of it" she ordered.

The Vostra and her escort turn to the opening rift at high speed just as Commodore Meltzer's ship and fleet emerged from it, at their top speed, less than a mile from the turian fleet.

XXXXX

"Commodore we have emerged to close and the Turian fleet has turned to intercept us" the synthetic voice of MARCOS betrayed a never before seen worry that border panic. "WE ARE ON A COLLISION COURSE!"

"EVASIVE MANEUVERS! NOW!" she ordered, as they were a mere few hundred meters from the turian flagship.

"Oohhhh Shit" said Steven Hackett.

XXXXX

"FULL STARBOARD NOW!" Admiral Survan ordered.

"THEY INTENT TO RAM US! THEY ARE CRAZY!" shouted another officer.

"THIS IS THE ADMIRAL" Admiral Survan shouted through the intercom. "BRACE FOR IMPACT"

Both the Turian dreadnought and the Human escort carrier engaged their frontal thrusters and attempted to move out of each other paths, yet it was too late, both ships had burned their main thrusters hard in order to intercept each other.

The Turian bird like dreadnought measuring more than 900 meters long and the kilometer long whale shape carrier made some last second evasive maneuvers, but a second later both of them scrapped each other's starboard lines with a force of several thousand tons. The Turian dreadnought's right wing was torn from its body cutting a third of the ship, meanwhile the starboard line of the Aurelius saw its armored hull ripped apart, venting several decks into space.

As both ships passed away from each other the exchange of shots between both fleets was stopped, a general order of surrender came from Admiral Victus and an order of cease fire came from Admiral Comstock; yet in the center of the turian fleet the HWS Vostra and the CSV Marcus Aurelius were death in the water; with no orders coming from the officers on each ship.

XXXXX

In the CIC of the CSV Aurelius sparks were coming out of every console and power node, some of the crew was unconscious as the violent impact of both ships had hit them like a car crash.

Commodore Meltzer rose on all fours, aided by another crewman. Next to her the hologram of MARCOS flickered and appeared.

"Commodore we have sustained heavy damage, but the Turian fleet has surrendered and the enemy flagship has been disabled" the voice of MARCOS betrayed only concern. "You should check on Lieutenant Hackett" he pointed to the wounded officer next to her.

"Steven? Are you okay?" she asked as she kneeled next to him, Lieutenant Steven Hackett had a long slash across his face located beneath the right eye.

 _That is going to leave a scar_

"I am fine Commodore" he answered. "What is our status?"

She looked back to the blinking holographic table, where the Commonwealth's fleet had assumed a defensive formation around the silent turian warships, they have done it.

"Well" she began. "It looks like we won" she answered.

XXXXX

 **CODEX – History: The First Contact War (2155): Operation Chixulub:** The first contact war was the first true military engagement in the history of the still young Unified Systems Commonwealth, and cemented its place as a true military superpower.

After the retreat of the Shanxi's defense fleet under the command of Commodore Lillian Meltzer to the Fujian-Delta system, the Commonwealth's high command began working in a plan to drive the Turians out of the Fujian-Alpha system. In the ground the colonial guard and militia fought a fierce battle to defend the city of Quinhai, capital of Shanxi from the Turian invading force; under the command of General George Williams the soldiers of the USC hold the defensive perimeter around the city which was protected from orbital bombardment by its taquion shield. The Turian forces under the command of General Orinia were forced to sustain a prolong siege around the city with a battle 'house by house' that was slowly bleeding the Turian legion dry. Also human forces spearheaded by the elite N7 team Delta 01 and the armored division launched a series of counterstrikes that destroy much of the Turian military hardware and supplies. This unique approach to warfare took the Turians by surprise, as the turian forces had not fought an opponent capable of confronting them on equal ground since the end of the Krogan rebellions.

The operation to reclaim the colony suffered a setback when the Turian fleet under the command of Admirals Victus and Survan discovered the presence of the joint human punitive fleet on the other side of the Shanxi-Theta relay; adopting a defensive formation around the relay, casualties would have been tremendous for the human fleets had they cross the relay in force and fall right in the Turian trap. A stealth ship located in the system the CSV Orleans which has been tasked to observe Turian movements after the first battle with Admiral Varkus, reported the change made by the Turian navy to USC fleet command by its quantum entanglement communicator.

In the end **Operation Chicxulub** (named in honor of the crater where supposedly the meteor that wipe out the dinosaurs fell; taken into account that the Turians have been nicknamed dinobirds by Shanxi's troops) was devised under the oversight of Fleet Admiral Elizabeth Comstock of the first fleet. The USC fleet was divided into three separated forces: DAGGER; HAMMER and ANVIL: the role of DAGGER [Commodore Meltzer's fleet] was to "poke" the Turian fleet out of position; as a Turian flotilla moved to intercept them, Commodore Meltzer made use of a creative tactic suggested by Lieutenant Steven Hacket. When both fleets moved to engage one another, the CSV Orleans still on stealth mode dropped a group of gravity well anchors in strategically located coordinates, then during the battle putting their rift gate siphon to the limit the CSV Aurelius and her fleet rift jumped from position to position allowing them the capability to flank the enemy and avoid the Turian warship's main guns.

As Admiral Survan and her 11° fleet make a short range FTL jump to support the battered rear admiral Naeslous's fleet in an attempt to flank and pincer Commodore Meltzer's flotilla, the CSV Orleans deployed its two remaining gravity well anchors: one to serve as the beacon for a rift for Meltzer's fleet to move of range and another to serve as the anchor for the HAMMER's rift gate. A group of ships of the First fleet under the command of Admiral Comstock spearheaded by her flagship the CSV Stephen Hawkings and her two dreadnoughts escort, made use of the Erebus Nexus's rift gate and immense power output to stabilize a long distance Rift jump from the Jutteneim system to Fujian-Alpha. The arrival of human reinforcements left the 11° fleet on a vulnerable position and soon casualties multiplied as the remaining forces of DAGGER and the superior firepower of HAMMER [at least two hundred ships centered on the Fleet Carrier Stephen Hawkins and the Dreadnoughts Everest and Aconcagua] hit them on both sides.

Finally it was enough for Admiral Victus who broke the defensive formation around the relay and moved to support his fellow admiral. That reaction had been foreseen by Admiral Comstock who ordered the forces of ANVIL [the joint battle group of the Federation's fifth and sixth fleet] to cross the relay. Outgunned and outnumbered Admiral Victus finally surrendered to save his remaining ships.

Admiral Nyreen Survan however refused to surrender; instead she attempted to sacrifice most of her fleet to secure herself and her flagship escape. Commodore Meltzer however refused to let the commander who had force her to retreat several days ago, to escape unharmed.

Making a risky short range rift jump without the use of gravity anchors the CSV Aurelius accelerated at the top of her speed moving to intercept and block the path of FTL jump for the HWS Vostra, but without a gravity well anchor the position from with Commodore's Meltzer forces emerged was a few mere one thousand meters from the also accelerating Vostra, which had turn towards the anomaly in order to fire her main gun at the Aurelius. Unable to change course fast enough both vessel 'scraped' against each other in a monumental crash of hundreds of thousands of metric tons. Each ship escorts had more luck as they were able to avoid any collision. Both fleets stopped firing on each other after that, be it either from the orders of Admirals Victus and Comstock or the shock of what had happened.

For both Turian and Human commanders the actions of Commodore Meltzer were near borderline madness, even though it was unintentional; a Turian veteran of the Relay 314 Incident said this in an interview once: "The Human Commodore Lillian Meltzer? Ohh she's got a quad all right, said whatever you like about the krogans being crazy, but I have never heard of a Krogan warlord who chose to ram his ship on an enemy's banner ship rather to allow his enemy to escape."

Commodore Lillian Meltzer and her flag lieutenant Steven Hackett both received commendations and were awarded with The Star of Terra for their decisive actions on the Battle of Fujian-Alpha, and the entire Shanxi defense fleet received the Legion of Honor for their courage and determination.

After the victory on space, the Commonwealth's ground forces arrived at Shanxi in force and in mere six hours of combat managed to force the unconditional surrender of General Orinia and her legion. General George Williams and Captain Brandon Dewitt also received high commendations with the first also receiving the Star of Terra and the Shield of Bravery for his exemplary leadership and brave defense of Quinhai.

Nearly 300000 souls were lost in the First Contact war ¾ being Turians and the rest humans. Generals Orinia and Arterius as well as Admirals Victus and Survan were captured with the rest of their surviving officers and were liberated at the end of the war in accordance to the armistice's terms.

Yet it was the latter contact between the USC's leaders and the Citadel Council the event that would shake the foundations of the known galaxy and its civilizations.

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 **2155.07.12**

 **CSV Dawn of Infinity; flagship of the USC's fleet**

 **Three days after the end of the Operation Chixulub**

Jack Harper felt honored to be there at that moment of history onboard the largest ship ever constructed by humanity and the Commonwealth; the _Dawn of Infinity_ was a marvel of engineering mixing Human determination and ambition, Talosian ingenuity, Rachni collective precision, Kashani creativity and Quarian resourcefulness. The ship was so large it used internal rift portals so as to allow the crew to travel from one place to another in an instant.

The crew was also multiracial with a Talosian ship overseer [captain], a rachni queen as chief of operations and several quarian and kashani crewmen; yet the commander of the ship and the joint fleet that had been assembled at this place was Fleet Admiral Elizabeth Comstock. Under her leadership Operation Chixulub had resulted in less than two hundreds ships lost damaged or destroyed; while the Turian fleet had been outright decimated with the remaining ships surrendering.

Both he and his partner Eva Core felt a little disappointed to arrive late for the battle; it was as if the war had ended before they could actually fight in mankind's defense. Yet there were here now and they were still part of the specialist's team under the direct oversight of admiral Comstock.

One of their first tasks was the interrogation of Turian officers that hadn't been interrogated by Lilim operatives or CISB agents yet.

XXXXX

In an interrogation room deep on the bowels of the CSV Dawn of Infinity one angry Turian general awaited his turn, he had been the first senior officer captured by the humans. The room was a perfect cube of grey metal, with absolutely no imperfections or distinct elements inside apart from one table and three chairs, one in which he sat waiting and the other two located on the opposite side of the table.

Desolas Arterius looked at his handcuffs seeing anyway he could break free of them, but it was no use, the handcuffs were made of a strong alloy that had formed a concrete like substance around his wrists and forcefully paralyze them. The handcuffs were also magnetically fused to a metal circle in the head of the table, so he could not even stand up.

With a hiss one of the walls created an opening and revealed a door, allowing two humans a male and a female to come inside; both of them a seat and exchange looks with Desolas.

"Name, rank, assignment?" the male asked him.

After a moment of hesitation Desolas answered. "General Desolas Arterius, Eight Legion" he said he did as he was trained to do, provide his name and rank, and nothing more.

"Born and raised in the Turian homeworld of Palaven, Trebia System" the female cut in surprising Desolas; "member of the Turian Blackwatch, known relatives: a younger brother named Saren."

For a moment he said nothing then he simply kept his sharp gaze pointed at the female, she was so much like an asari that it was disturbing and she looked just as sharp and fierce as an asari commando.

"Don't be so surprise, we hacked your computers and salvage quite a large cache of information" the male informed him. "So General what can you tell me about this?" the male pressed a command on his omni-tool like device and a hologram of a huge structure similar to a cylinder with five arms reaching out appeared on the center of the table; a shape Desolas knew very well.

His expression of surprise and terror did not go unnoticed by the two aliens. "I believe you call it the Citadel, the seat of power for your galactic government" the female told. "We only have one question" she declared.

"Does the Citadel Council know about your attack? And has the Asari republics and Salarian Union condoned your actions?" the male asked.

Desolas mind ran a hundred thoughts for second, if he lied and say yes, these USC could attack the Citadel in force and cripple the Council on a first strike, he had little doubt they may even succeed, but even if the Citadel fell the Asari and Salarians would join the Hierarchy in a war against the humans, ensuring a quick victory for the Turian Hierarchy; if he say the truth the humans could either engage in diplomatic talks with the Council, something that could mean a political disaster for the Hierarchy even in the best case scenario or focus their wrath on the Hierarchy and attack Palaven instead on the worst. In the end he decided to tell the truth, while he still kept his unshakable faith in a Hierarchy's victory, many doubts had creep on his mind when this colossal super dreadnought arrived in the system next to hundreds of ships that did not look human in design. Also he was beyond surprise when he realized the USC was a confederacy of different species, when they brought him into this ship he was escorted by several never before seen non-human aliens, including some of them which reminded him to the suit-rats only that these xenos had grey skin and facial structures similar to Humans and Asari and they do not used any environment suits. There were also some giant insect like aliens that looked similar to the extinct rachni, they were not brainless creatures apparently, Desolas had seen those insectoids making manual work all around the ship, similar to the keepers at the Citadel.

Fighting the Humans had been disastrous, fighting several aliens which the Hierarchy and Council knew nothing about could be apocalyptic.

"No, they do not" he answered. "The Council does not know about this conflict; our invasion was in retaliation for the destruction of Admiral Varkus."

"I see, then let's hope your Council is willing to talk" the human male said.

"Your people will still have to answer for what has happened here" the female sharply said. "I read in the Codex about what you did to the Krogans, were you trying to do the same to us and anyone on your way, what gives you the right to pass judgment on an entire species you skull face?" the female said with disgust, surprising her partner and igniting Desolas's anger.

"Don't pretend to understand human" he answered with venom on his voice. "You arrogant and ignorant newcomers are all the same. New arrivals wanting everything like if the galaxy was your personal feast. I am sure the stars look warm and inviting from your location. But I'll let you in a secret; others were here first, my people are the shield and sword of the Citadel and we will not stop fighting to defend Citadel space from barbarians like yourself. You are not welcome here." He spat with every ounce of hatred he could.

 _You will not stand between the Turians and their destiny_

The female changed into a sharp expression of anger. "Bold statement General! Considering your kind are the galactic number one bullies" her mouth flexed into an expression identical to an Asari smile. "I wonder if the Protheans though the same before being wipe out" she stated to the confusion of the Turian general.

"The Protheans? How do you…" he stuttered. "You know what happened to them?" he asked surprised.

As the male send a serious glare to the female, both of them turned to their wrists when a message came through the holographic display on those devices.

"Well general, it seems we will have to continue with this later" the male interjected. "Your blue skin and lizard friends have arrived at the nearby cluster apparently."

XXXXX

Admiral Elizabeth Comstock was on her private office on the Dawn of Infinity, reading the report of Captain Taggart. The CSV Orleans had been sent to the Zodiac Central system on the other side of the Lambda-Zodiac relay, to report any incoming Turian or Council reinforcements. Her hunch had paid off, the Citadel fleet with a majority of asari and salarian warships had arrived at the system with that huge asari dreadnought known as the Destiny Ascension acting as the fleet's obvious flagship.

The Council had either come in force to support the Turians and force a surrender or at least a set of terms for humanity and the USC or they were attempting to rectify the actions of the Turians by bringing a fleet both capable of forcing their retreat and perhaps bullied the USC into the negotiation table.

They were in for quite a big surprise, defending the Fujian-Alpha system on their side of the relay was perhaps the largest ship in the galaxy accompanied by almost two thousand warships; the entirety of the Erebus Nexus defense fleet and the Federation's fifth and sixth fleets. It was a shame the Dawn of Eternity had not been present at the battle of the Fujian-Alpha but its absence was for very good reasons, it had taken the USC engineering corps two years to build it yet even now many of its subsystems were still not operational. The ship was a wonder of the pinnacle of USC military technology, standing several kilometers in length with a massive Singularity core that generate an energy output similar to a supernova, and powered the ship's immense weaponry, its shielding and its advance rift drive core. Being a hybrid between a super dreadnought and a carrier, the Dawn of Eternity could carry and entire small flotilla of frigates, and several squadrons of fighters and corvettes; while the main artillery batteries of the ship were as big as a small cruiser.

As powerful as the ship was, some of the systems were not acting on their one hundred percent yet, but the enemy did not know that and hopefully they didn't need to find out; even without firing a single shot the CSV Dawn of Infinity served as an enduring symbol of power that could show the Citadel Council the might of the species of the Commonwealth united in purpose under the flag of the USC.

She ordered the vanguard group to cross the relay in order to act as 'the welcoming committee' for the Council fleet, before ordering LOKI the ship's AI to seal the room and activate her private secure channel. "Jack this is Elizabeth, the Citadel Council has arrived, time to move to phase 2."

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 **2155.07.12**

 **ARH Destiny Ascension, Zodiac System**

In the bridge of the Citadel's banner ship the designated ambassador Matriarch Talis Seloni was studying the Turian reports about the Humans, everything from their biology, technology, tactics and any possible cultural mindsets they possessed. It was remarkable seeing a race so similar in appearance to her own; yes Asari shared common features with other races; they were considered attractive for their skin color for salarians or the head fringe for turians, but a human female looked almost identical to an adult asari, especially on the eyelids, pupils shape was almost identical, seeing the pictures of capture or dead humans taken by the turians made her feel uneasy, the expressions of defiance and anger were also practically identical.

It was very likely that the Human homeworld Earth may be sharing several features with Thessia, in order to allow the evolution of two races with so many physical similarities.

Saying that Matriarch Seloni was uncertain of the situation would be an understatement; this whole scenario was a huge cluster fuck, whatever way you look at. The Turians had fucked the whole thing so bad, that it would probably take centuries to convince the humans to join the Citadel; she was certain that they could force the humans to sue for peace; a race with such a high level of technological advancement would most likely see that their chances to defeat the Turians were one thing but fighting the entire Citadel were completely different.

As there were no com buoys at either side of the relay 314 standard protocol was to send a messenger ship through the relay every six hours informing the command of any updates, but the last messenger ship was last seen three days ago, either the joint Turian fleet had actually gone rogue or they were keeping their position isolated for some reason.

The last reports coming for the occupied planet known by the humans as Shanxi said that the siege was going bad for the Turians; that super kinetic barrier blocked any orbital bombardment, and according to the Hierarchy's provided reports and logs the human military was well equipped, discipline and competent.

She had spent the last week studying all the logs and observations made by the Turians, this Human Systems Commonwealth was without a doubt a powerful dominion, with a fleet and army capable to standing up to the Turian forces and a heavy industry and economy capable of supporting that military.

In order to bring General Orinia and her colleagues to heel, and withdraw, as well as provide a show of force for this new species; the banner ship of the Citadel fleet had been tasked to lead a joint Asari and Salarian fleet with a few Turian ships; standing six hundred ships strong and with the most powerful dreadnought on the known galaxy the Council was confident that the situation could be brought into order in a short time.

"Captain, Matriarch we have arrived in proximity to Relay 314" a young maiden officer informed them.

"This is strange, standard Turian protocol orders the placement of sentry ships on both sides of any critical relay, to avoid ambushes or piracy and guard supply lines but this system is empty" one tactical officer matron added.

"Shouldn't we send a scout ship through the relay to verify the position of the Turian forces and the situation at the system?" Matriarch Seloni asked the commander.

"No" answered her fellow Matriarch, Lindaya. "Seeing the full might of the Council fleet arriving at their doorstep will convince this Turians to stand down and will send a message to the humans that were are here to set things right, and secure peace no matter the cost."

"Commander we are detecting activity at the relay" one maiden scan officer informed them.

Everyone on the bridge turned to the holographic display showing the rings of the core at the mass relay dancing at high speed and displaying spark and lightening's of dark energy. Nine ships were slingshot from the relay; eight were clearly the reported Human frigates while at the tip of the formation was the Turian dreadnought HWS Spirits of Justice, with a new paint job and the blue, white and golden flag of the Commonwealth.

"What in the goddess name?" a maiden asked, soon the computers started humming the alert that they were being hailed by the dreadnought.

The Commander ordered the bridge crew to answer the transmission, in an instant at the front of the bridge the hologram of a human male appeared in front of the crew, he looked to be middle age with a deep scar beneath the right eye.

"Council fleet, I am Lieutenant Commander Steven Hackett of the Unified Systems Commonwealth; the Turian fleet has been decimated and the colony of Shanxi has been liberated" he stated with conviction, receiving the faces of shock from every asari at the bridge. "Generals Orinia and Arterius as well as Admirals Victus and Survan alongside most of their senior officers had surrendered and now they are our prisoners of war. The system beyond this relay is sovereign USC territory, the Turians have been denying complicity or even knowledge of the Citadel Council, the Asari Republics and the Salarian Union in this war; but you have brought a war fleet to our border an action that by all means and purposes represents an unmistakable declaration of war against the USC. State your intentions now or withdraw from this system at once." The male human ordered with deep conviction, leaving the entire bridge without words. "You have 5 minutes" he informed with coldness before cutting the transmission.

"By the goddess" one maiden began. "They defeated the Turians; they actually defeated two Turian fleets and one legion. Who in Athame's name are these aliens?" she asked.

"We are about to find out, hopefully they will be more reasonable than the Turians who pissed them off" stated the Matriarch half joking-half serious. "Contact the salarian admiral and open a channel with the human fleet" she ordered.

The com officer a maiden did as she ordered and the Matriarch moved to the center of the bridge to send a message to the captured Turian dreadnought; also the hologram of Admiral Jurut Hilot, the commander of the salarian fleet accompanying the Destiny Ascension and its fleet, appeared on the bridge of the asari Dreadnought.

"Lieutenant Commander, I am Matriarch Talis Seloni, representative and ambassador of the Citadel Council, let me begin by saying we are deeply sorry for all the lives lost at on this disastrous conflict. The Turian Hierarchy acted without the advice or awareness of the Council, this fleet was not meant to fight your forces; as you have may have already noted this fleet is composed primarily by Asari and Salarian ships; our mission was to coerce the Turian retreat out of your territory, by force if necessary, as well as initiate a peaceful diplomatic contact with your species. You have my word, we don't want to fight you and I believe that you don't want a war either. It is the main goal of the Citadel Council to maintain peace and cooperation between all the different sentient species of the galaxy, we wish to end this conflict between your USC and the Turian Hierarchy at once; please contact your superiors we will be honor to invite your diplomats to our ship and declare a cessation of hostilities between our nations. We await your answer." She declared with as much charm and sensibility as she could muster, hoping the humans would consider her words sincere and honest; her instincts told her this was not another simple diplomatic talk, to discuss terms of trade or exchange; she felt as in her shoulders rested the lives of the thousands that could die if a war between the Citadel and the USC truly erupted.

After a minute of pause in which the only sound at the bridge was the noise of the computers processing the state of the ship and fleet, the hologram of Lt. Commander Hackett returned.

"Matriarch Seloni, I see" he begin saying, flexing his mouth into a perfect reflection of her own smile. "Your statement matches with the declarations of the captured Turian officers, so my superiors and I, we are inclined to believe you. Yet my people are still shocked by the actions of the Turians, this was not our first contact with another space faring sentient species, it was not even our first hostile first contact with an alien species; but this was indeed the first true conflict we have experienced in more than a century. Also don't patronize us, Matriarch, this fleet came here as a show of force, to bully us into the negotiation table." The human lieutenant made a pause looking at the matriarch with distrust before continuing to speak. "The invasion of our colony of Shanxi is still fresh on the minds of our soldiers, and both humanity and our allies have few reasons to trust your word and intentions; so we offer an alternative." He made a pause before taking a deep breath. "Having two war fleets on both sides of the relay is in a human term a 'powder cake' ready to blow up on our faces, so we will allow you to send a diplomatic mission through the relay with no more than 9 ships; as a gesture of good will my flotilla shall remain in this position under the oversight of the rest of your fleet. Fleet admiral Comstock and our diplomats will be waiting for you on the other side of the relay. Please state your decision as soon as possible." The Human officer stated, as his hologram vanished.

"Well that went better than I was hoping and far different from what I was expecting" Matriarch Seloni said.

"A fascinating species" the salarian admiral added. "They seem to understand a great deal of the possible outcomes of this situation so they are attempting to defuse any possible conflict, instead of making arrogant declarations and threats or demanding retribution. This could work well for us; they may understand they are operating in a position of weakness so they are willing to give concessions in order to ensure peace."

"They said humanity and our allies… One of the Turian reports mentioned other possible alien nations in league with the Humans" Matriarch Seloni's assistant Kanya Niozen a young maiden and commando added to the interest of the whole bridge. "We may be facing a first contact with multiple new alien species."

"The humans ordered no more than nine ships coming through the relay; although it seems they knew we were coming or detected our entrance into this system" the commander of the ship Matriarch Lindaya said. "I don't like it when the enemy has me at a disadvantage; if they were able to dig through the data on the Turian computers they may know everything about us, including our reach and power as well as our intentions… They practically saw right through us, when he mentioned this fleet being a show of force…"

"I heard it too Commander, we need to tread carefully and find whatever we can about these… humans" Seloni answered. "At the very least we can stop a war before it begins, and perhaps even set the stage for an eventual ascension process for the humans, if half of the Turian reports say it's true, they could become an impressive new addition to the Citadel."

"I agree Matriarch" the salarian admiral added. "A military force capable of defeating the turians could be a remarkable peace keeping force and a powerful ally against the Terminus Systems. STG command is also very interested in the human technologies reported by Admiral Victus."

"Then I will assemble the fleet" Commander Lindaya said. "Get your team ready matriarch" she ordered.

XXXXX

After half an hour of preparation Matriarch Lindaya, her assistant and Admiral Jurut Hilot were onboard the Asari cruiser ARH Cybaen; escorted by eight salarian frigates ready to cross the relay. The Cybaen was a unique cruiser on the asari fleet; a mix-up during the cruiser's construction left it with an unusually large drive core and engineers redesigned the ship around the excessive power source. The Cybaen's unusually robust engines provide enough energy to generate kinetic barriers normally reserved for dreadnoughts; making it the ideal ship for the diplomatic mission in the case the humans were ready to sprung a trap.

A small asari commando team had also been tasked with accompanying them, at the request of both Commander Lindaya and Matriarch Seloni, no turian officer or diplomat has been allow to come with them, they didn't need to antagonize the humans any further.

Lt. Commander Hackett and his fleet had allow them passage through the relay, holding the standard Parade formation the small fleet was slingshot across a distance of light years by the power of the mass relay.

"Matriarch we will be arriving at the human system in a few minutes" the tactical officer of the Cybaen informed them.

"Good it's time to clean the turian mess" she began. "Just another day's work for the asari" she said half-joking to the amusement of the crew.

"I am itching to meet these aliens" her assistant added. "They look so much like us that they could almost be some long lost cousins; and they are remarkable attractive for mammals."

"Hoping to meet an exotic bond mate, Kanya?" Matriarch Seloni teased, to the embarrassment of her assistant and the smiles of the bridge crew.

"We need to be careful matriarch, a few millennia ago our ancestors committed the mistake of opening the door to the rachni and we are still paying the price" Admiral Hilot added, receiving a dozens of serious gazes from all of the room. "We need to find everything about these aliens and evaluate their potential as a threat in order to find countermeasures for them."

"Admiral Hilot, with all due respect I have lived for over a thousand years and dozens of your lifetimes, and in all that time I have never meet anything that…" she was stop mid-sentence when the ship arrived at the Fujian-Alpha system, and her eyes received the sight of hundreds of ships of alien design receiving them, with one of the center that stood out from the rest.

"By the Goddess" Kanya exclaimed, almost without breath.

"Confirmed" the tactical officer begin explaining. "More than two thousand ships present and accounted; half of them matches with human profiles, the others are unknown…" she made a pause. "And more a dozen of these ships are about a kilometer long, with possible dreadnought class weaponry."

"What about the colossus ship at the center?" the salarian admiral asked, while looking at the enormous ships on the center of the formation that dwarfed every other vessel in the alien fleet.

"Possible Alien banner ship stands eight point two kilometers long" the scan officer said in a surprise and frightened tone. "Design matches with human ship profile but it profile is unlike anything on the codex; weirder still I am not detecting any element zero particles on that ship" she finished looking at the rest of the crew.

"What no eezo?" the captain of the Cybaen asked with haste. "That is impossible" she declared.

"I swore you captain, our sensor do not read a single atom of element zero on that monstrous vessel" she made a pause. "But energy readings are off the scale, whatever that ship uses for power the ship's VI sees it as something as powerful as a supernova."

Silence had befallen on the bridge, Matriarch Seloni and Admiral Hilot exchanged looks.

"So Matriarch… a thousand years?" he asked in almost teasing tone.

"All right this is a first" she answered. "What about the rest of the fleet? What can you tell me about the non-human ships?"

"A few of these ships match Quarian profiles" the scan officer reported.

"Quarian?" she asked with surprise.

"Yes and no, they look similar to the ships of the migrant fleet; but the leading ship is dreadnought class and the others look state of the art; not recycle and reassemble on space like the ships of the quarian fleet." No one answer so she continued.

"Besides the colossus, I am reading 4 ships with a length superior to 1600 meters possible super dreadnoughts, 3 match human profiles and 1 doesn't; also there are 12 ships above 1200 meters in length dreadnought class, 6 match human design, 2 have a more organic and undulated shape, 3 almost match the shape of a Rachni spore cruiser and the last is the similar to a quarian dreadnought." She made another pause. "There are also present several cruisers, frigate and second line dreadnought class ships at the fleet."

"So it is confirmed" admiral Hilot said. "We are dealing with many species instead of one" he sentenced.

"It looks that way, but we will not find answers standing here" she answered. "Contact the alien fleet tell them…" she was interrupted.

"Already done, they send us instructions to dock a transport ships at the colossus" the captain informed them.

"Very well, prepare the drop ship" she ordered. "And assemble the team as soon as possible."

XXXXX

In the auxiliary craft of the Cybaen tasked with transporting the diplomatic party to the human banner ship tension was on the air. Even the members of the asari commando team ordered to escorting them were nervous; it was no surprise anymore how the turians have been defeated. Not to mention that the enemy colossus super dreadnought made the Destiny Ascension look like a cruiser.

"Several of the ships on this fleet shared the same energy and radiations readings that the colossus; we may have encountered an alliance of different species that not only have been able to work and coexist together, but also discovered an alternative method of FTL than the use of mass effect drives." The salarian Admiral began reading through the files on his omni-tool. "The turian fleet reported some kind of gravitational anomaly like a wormhole that the human defense flotilla used to escape destruction. If they were able to dominate this method then it is very likely that they may have been able to survey a greater area of their occupy territory including the areas between the mass relays considered too far away to exploit." Despite the situation the salarian looked exited, like a young maiden on her first tour of the Citadel, the rate of his speech had also accelerated; which wasn't a surprise for a normal salarian but it was rare on an admiral of STG accustomed to work closely with asari and turians.

The ship crossed the alien fleet in silence looking down on the thousands of guns pointed at them. At the center of the formation the colossus banner ship was escorted by four dreadnoughts and a defensive line of cruisers. After crossing the outer line the Cybaen's shuttle received clearance to touch down at the Colossus's main hangar bay.

The main hangar of the colossus super dreadnought was so big; it could fit an entire squadron of frigates. The inertial dampers of the shuttle soften the landing, on the hatch the commando team stood up in attention as the matriarch moved to the front.

"Stay ready for anything, we are on unfamiliar territory now; just remember maintain calm and maintain protocol and you will tell your daughters one day that you stood here on the largest ship on the known galaxy making peaceful first contact with a new species" she ordered. "Admiral you stay with me" she ordered the salarian. "Open the door."

At her orders the hatch opened revealing the breath taking sight of an entire battalion of hundreds of soldiers acting as the welcoming committee, what was more surprising was the fact that there besides the humans were three more types of aliens that they have never seen before.

The humans just like in the fleet outside represented at least the 50% of the battalion, even if they use helmets and armor you could see that they have five fingers on each hand and a body shape similar to an asari or drell; other alien type were like a mix between a turian and a salarian, reptile like humanoid beings with big black eyes a scale covered skin with even horn like protrusions coming out of their heads; the tallest among these new aliens were a head taller than a turian perhaps even staring above eye level of a krogan, unlike the rest of the battalion and most known species of the galaxy these aliens have four arms, with a bluish-grey skin tone; the last of this aliens were the weirdest and more terrifying of all, giant insects with black bodies similar to rachni brood warriors. The whole battalion was assembled in a perfect formation with the insect like beings at front, the humans and reptilians on the middle and the tall four arms aliens as well as some middle size mechs on the back, yet it was impossible to distinguishing a clear hierarchy on their command structure.

At a yell from behind the battalion formation split in two with all the aliens moving at unison opening a passage on the middle; the soldiers standing on the middle turn around looking at the passage as three beings clearly the commanding officers were moving towards the Citadel diplomatic party, as they advance towards them, the soldiers on the middle straighten up in a clear salute of respect to the officers.

The one standing in the middle was one of those four arms aliens, unlike the soldiers of the battalion these one wasn't wearing combat armor instead he used a distinct blue, golden trim uniform similar to the one used by Lt. Commander Hackett only this was adapted to this alien unique anatomy. At the right side of the four arm officer was a human, male like commander Hackett only this one looked like a soldier not an officer, his combat armor was pitch black with red trim line around the shoulders and legs. The last one was a reptilian with an elegant shape on its features, perhaps a female; her uniform was completely white with black and yellow lines around the edges.

Matriarch Seloni took her place at the center of her party with her assistant on her left, the salarian admiral on her right and the commando group at the back.

Less than two meters the alien trio stop, the one in the middle bowed his head in a possible sign of respect as he took the lead.

"Matriarch Seloni, welcome to the CSV Dawn of Infinity flagship of the Unified System Commonwealth's fleet; as you can see we have added your language into our translators." he spoke in a deep tone of voice similar to the one of a krogan male. "I am Ship Overseer Vyon'Kij'Norum commander of this vessel" he introduced himself before turning to his partner at his left. "I would like to introduce you to Captain Brandon Dewitt, hero of the defense of Shanxi against the turians and member of Admiral Comstock's personal unit" he explained as he turned to his left. "And this is Agent Dirle Meltau member of the Commonwealth's Intelligence and security Bureau."

 _A military officer, a soldier and spy; interesting choice for a welcoming committee_

"Thank you… Ship Overseer Norum" she said with as much amiability as she could muster, hoping she had said the name and title correctly. "I will like to introduce you to my companions, Admiral Jurut Hilot of the Salarian Union, my assistant Kanya Nyosen and our escort; I represent both the Asari Republics and the Citadel Council, we are pleased to meet you" she explained.

"We are honor to be here, we were amazed by the size of such a massive ship and fleet. First of all, I will like to offer my deepest apologies for the regrettable actions of the Turian forces, who acted against the standard Citadel Protocols regarding first contact and allow this misunderstanding to escalate out of control…"

"Misunderstanding?" the human soldier interrupted her. "Thousands are death and one of our colonies suffered catastrophic damages. How do you justify such an enormous loss of lives and destruction." He asked with indignation, receiving a disapproving look from the other two aliens and apologetic look from the matriarch.

"I am sorry Captain Dewitt, was it?" she began, attempting to look disturbed. "The Turians acted without the Council authorization and they were acting by the theory that your kind was working with…"

"A pirate and terrorist faction of the Terminus Systems, known as the Black fleet" Agent Meltau interrupted her drawing the surprise of the entire group. "The turian prisoners have been claiming that on the interrogations. Let me assure you Matriarch, no one on the USC has been providing support for any other race or faction acting outside our territory, at least not to our knowledge so far."

"Turian prisoners? What is their state?" she asked with an almost genuine sense of concern.

"The Turian prisoners of war are being kept in secure lockdown, under heavy surveillance but their health and integrity is being maintained as the USC accords regarding the prisoners of war demands it. Water, food and medical services have been provided them in full." The tall officer explained.

"I see" she answered, looking directly to the ship overseer. "That is good to hear, the Hierarchy would be pleased to see the safe return of their citizens once peace has been achieved."

"That would be up to the Admiral and our leaders on Erebus" Ship Overseer Norum answered. "Let me take you to her, the admiral is waiting for you" he said as he turned around signaling them to follow them.

"One more thing your escort will be allow to come with us, but they will be order to wait when entering the most sensitive areas of the ship" he explained. "I believe there is no need to say it, but for the record, do not do anything stupid this ships carries a crew of 15000 highly trained soldiers" he said with seriousness.

"Understood, thank you for the trust, ship overseer" she answered.

The diplomatic party and the USC officers walked through the hangar bay to the exit, four commandos and two human soldiers following them.

"Remarkable ship, military design, multi species crew, huge hangar bay and efficient layout" Admiral Hilot numbered his observations talking remarkably fast.

"Thank you admiral" the ship master said. "The Dawn of Eternity is a unique ship, the first of her kind; the USC first Uber dreadnought and the most powerful ship on our fleet. Her main gun could break a small moon with one shot." He declared to an exchange of nervous glares among the group.

As they walk through a long hallway seeing other alien crewmen walking around repairing consoles, subsystems or checking status updates with their versions of omni-tools; matriarch Seloni observed a fifth alien type among them, which surprise her more than the rest, because they looked identical to the quarians. They had three long fingers, elongated legs and their facial features were similar to humans and asari; she had never travelled to quarian space before the rebellion so she wasn't sure how the quarians looked under those suits, it was possible it was just another species with similar evolutionary lines, just like the asari were to humans. Her thoughts were interrupted when she glimpsed the ship master looking back to her.

"I have to say Matriarch Seloni" he said while looking back to the elder asari. "It's interesting to meet another being whose life is measure in centuries instead of decades."

"Your species also has a long life spam? Remarkable… few species in the galaxy besides perhaps the krogans can live up to a thousand years. How old are you ship overseer?" she asked.

"I am Eight thousand and two hundred years old" he answered as the entire Citadel party stopped and exchanged looks before continuing to follow the USC officer.

"Eight thousand years old?!" she asked, thinking it may have been a translation error; other than believing that the man in front of her, was a child when the asari were still on the industrial revolution.

"Yes" the human soldier Captain Dewitt answered. "The Talosians always fancy the fact most of them were born at the time my people were still fighting with wooden spears or bows and arrows" he declared with a small pang of humor.

"At least both of you still have your homeworlds" the Ship Overseer said with a tone of sadness.

"Did you lose your homeworld?" the Salarian admiral asked. "How? Invasion, AI rebellion, Environmental disaster?" he began probing for answers.

"Our sun went supernova" the talosian officer answered, freezing the Citadel group on their tracks again, before they resumed walking.

"We have arrived at this quadrant portal" agent Meltau informed them.

"Quadrant portal?" Matriarch Seloni asked while looking in front of her to a section where the hallways intersected and unfold in a circle with an exotic device at the center, it was like a ring connected to a platform like some sort of religious arc for ceremonies.

"This ship is so massive that we use internal rift portals to travel from one section to another in a quick and efficient way" the ship overseer explained as he introduced a set of commands on his version of an omni-tool.

As he finished the arc begin to spark an aura of energy as the inside of the ring a ripple of energy turned into an anomaly similar to a scratch on the fabric of reality itself.

The entire group was frozen in place; they have never seen anything like this before, it was like a wormhole in a room, opening a door to another section of time and space behind it. Matriarch Seloni moved around the device, studying its design, and the never before seen anomaly inside it.

The three alien officers moved to the portal and the three of them crossed the threshold of the anomaly guiding the Citadel group which was extremely hesitant to approach the portal. Yet in the end guided by the matriarch they crossed it.

A small tingling hit them when their bodies crossed the ripple of energy; it was like walking through a waterfall of static energy. They could tell it was not a trick as they were now in a different place.

Upon walking through the anomaly they arrived in a different portion of the ship that hold an enormous bunker like structure surrounded by negative space; clearly the CIC.

"FASCINATING!" the Salarian admiral exclaimed exited; the rest of the group was also equally amazed. "You have mastered wormhole creation and manipulation; how do you control such power?" he asked.

"We actually called it rift gate technology and it was based on the discoveries of a human scientist named Robert Lutece more than two centuries ago" the human soldier explained. "It works similar to the mass relay network, we stabilize a rift gate in one location and another that serves as its partner; yet unlike the mass relays, we can actually switched between rift gates and we have been able to miniaturize the technology in order to build planet-ship portals or ship to ship portals" he finished speaking before adopting a more serious tone. "If you want it, you will need to speak with the High Council, our central government."

The mind of Matriarch Seloni was racing: _So humans invented this technology so they are the prime species of this alliance, just like the asari are at the Citadel. If they could initiate talks with this 'high council' they may be able to gain access to new technologies and planets._

Behind them the portal was deactivated and the anomaly disappeared; the USC team guided to an actual elevator and a different area of the ship.

They were closer to the hull as there were windows around them, after a few more minutes of walking they arrived to a door guarded by two medium size mechs that look capable to tear a krogan apart; both of them carried large guns.

"Admiral Comstock is waiting for you" one of the mechs informed them. "The bodyguards must remain here also you must surrender any weapons, we cannot let them in the Admiral's office carrying weapons."

The group did as they were told handling their weapons to the human guardsmen with the commando team staying there; before heading to the door, the human soldier captain Dewitt stood in front of them with a serious dark expression.

"I believe there is no need to say this" he began. "But if you Matriarch or your assistant made any attempt to use your biotics against the Admiral, I will be force to kill you" he declared without a single hint of doubt or hesitation. The commandos tensed up, while Matriarch Seloni and Kyala simply nodded.

The door opened and they entered into a spacious room that hold a library and several objects on display, like a museum. There was a large rectangular table at the center, making the place resembled a conference room; a group of windows allow the sight of the void and the fleet outside. Standing in a corner of the office was a human female studying some data on her computer terminal, she was wearing an uniform similar to the one of Commander Hackett and Ship overseer Norum with several insignias and an strange cap with 'the tower and sun' symbol they had seen on the USC ships; upon laying her eyes upon them the human female shut down her computer and walked towards them. Both her and Matriarch Lindaya exchanged looks, she was beautiful for asari standards, her features were soft and elegant, the fur over her head was a mix of black and brown with deep blue eyes; her eyes and gaze made even the matriarch felt unnerved, they seem to shone a coldness and wisdom she had not seen not even in her fellow matriarchs.

"Please sit down" the human female politely asked, although it seemed more like an order.

She took her place at one of the longer sides of the table, in the middle with Ship overseer Norum at her right and Agent Meltau on her left. The Matriarch and her team did the same on the opposite side, her in the middle facing the human female directly and the salarian admiral and her asari assistant on her left and right respectably, while the human soldier Captain Dewitt remain at the door standing guard for the peace talks.

"I am Fleet Admiral Elizabeth Comstock, commander of this fleet and overseer of this war theater" she began explaining. "I have been tasked by the USC's High Council to represent the Human Federation and the Commonwealth in these conference, now let's get to the point, what are you offering us to stop this war?" she asked with an authority tone.

Her bluntness surprised the Matriarch, but to be fair she was not dealing with an ambassador or a diplomat, her opponent was a military commander and one of clear experience and skill to be able to lead such a massive fleet composed of so many different species. More interesting though she was making a set of terms and demands, the fleet and the ship they were standing on was a clear show of force and it was working, this fleet alone could wreak havoc all across Citadel space before the Council could be able to muster a force capable of confronting them on equal ground.

"It is an honor to meet you admiral, I am Matriarch Talis Seloni, ambassador and representative of the Citadel Council. You clearly have us at a disadvantage, I am aware that you may know a great deal about us probably for the Turian computer data and prisoners; but I will give you short explanation in order to shed some light about any misconceptions you have." She made a pause and took a deep breath. "More than two thousand years ago the Asari Republics and the Salarian Union established the Citadel Council. The Council is an executive committee composed of one representative each from the member species. Though they have no official power over the independent governments of other species, the Council's decisions carry great weight throughout the galaxy."

"It is the central believe of the Council that every species and civilization contributes something to the greater galaxy. In the council each species has general characteristics associated with the various aspects of governing the galaxy. We the asari generally hold the role of diplomats and mediators; the salarians STG gather intelligence and information and the turians provide the bulk of the military and our peacekeeping forces."

"There are currently three fully fledged members on the Council and five associated members that maintain an embassy on the Citadel; a massive space station built by the Protheans, who created the Mass Relay network. Each species holds authority over their respective territories, but the Council helps to maintain peace, secure trade routes, provide commerce security, customs and a unified banking act."

"Could you please explain us what is the USC, of how many species is composed and what can you tell us about yourselves." She asked.

The Admiral took a sip of a brown hot beverage at her side, before speaking.

"The Unified Systems Commonwealth is a joint organization composed of five species including the Human Federation, the Talosian Assembly and Kashani Coalition; unlike the Citadel Council, our government is only forty years old" she began explaining. "Each of our governments holds a great deal of independence or autonomy over their respective territories; but each of them work in cooperation with the USC which serves as the main military, economic, scientific and diplomatic arm of our joint government, the High Council; the capital and seat of our government is a massive space Station we called the Erebus Nexus."

"Every species maintains their own militaries but in order to maintain peace and cooperation the USC is the only authorize to build and field actual war fleets, heavy cruisers, dreadnoughts and carriers. As well as maintaining and expanding the Rift Gate Network" that last comment made the asari assistant and salarian admiral to pick their interest, but the matriarch maintained a stoic face. "Currently the USC has surveyed and claimed 849 systems" she explained, in that moment even the matriarch couldn't hide her surprise.

"You control over eight hundred garden worlds?" the matriarch asked amazed.

"Actually no, only above a hundred planets can be considered garden worlds by your terms, many of our colonies are located in small moons, zero atmosphere planets or planet in process of terraformation" she explained.

"Impressive number nonetheless" the salarian admiral said. "But you said there are five species, we can only see three now; who are the other two?" he asked.

 _Good question_ , the matriarch thought, the human admiral smiled in response.

"Well you will be quite surprise to hear this" Admiral Comstock said in a serious tone, even though she was smiling. "You have actually met our last two members" she explained to the curious looks of the Citadel.

"You have seen the insect like beings on this ship haven't you" she asked.

"Yes, isectoid life form, remarkable similar to a species once encountered by the Council, the now extinct…" he made a pause, swallowing his words as he began to realize.

"Rachni" the Admiral said smiling devilishly. "They are not extinct actually; there are billions of them and Rachni Hive is a member of the USC."

The Citadel representatives shared a look of absolute horror and concern, even the Matriarch couldn't hide her fear and surprise.

"How?" she asked switching from fear to demanding anger. " The rachni are mindless consuming insects, how do you manage to control them?"

"First of all, we don't control them" Admiral Comstock explained. "When we first encounter a survivor queen we made a peaceful contact and over time we gain their trust and they have gained our respect and friendship." She told them before adopting a serious and cold expression.

"The fifth member of the USC is the Quarian Protectorate" she explained, to a new shock of surprise coming from the Citadel representatives.

 _So they were quarians the aliens I saw, maybe another faction managed to escape from Rannoch during the Geth rebellion and ended in USC territory._

"Quarians?" this time it was the assistant Kanya who asked. "You made contact with the Migrant Fleet?" she asked.

"Actually yes" the admiral responded. "Humanity's first contact with another space faring race was with a small group of quarian pilgrims a few decades ago" she explained, before adopting a completely professional stance.

"Well I believe you have a million questions, about the Rachni, the Quarians, about us" she said while looking to her colleagues. "So I am going to explain this from the beginning" she declared.

Inserting a few commands on her wrist tool, a holographic display began showing a large blue planet not too different from Thessia with ocean coverage of over 70% of the surface.

"About 130 years ago, my people the humans found on the neighboring planet to our homeworld of Earth a Prothean ruin" she explained. "The site brought us to discover the Charon Mass Relay at our home system of Sol and the mass effect technology; yet perhaps the greatest change produced by the discovery was the unification of my people into a single one world government; unlike other species we the humans possessed an incredible genetic and cultural diversity, in other words we have been killing each other since the dawn of time for what color our skin or eyes were, or by whatever god we were told to worship" she explained as the images of the martian ruins were passed in a slide show. "When we find irrefutable evidence that we were not alone in the universe, some of us saw a great fear to the unknown while other saw opportunity, to finally unite our whole species into one nation, one human race. The discoveries of the prothean ruins also sparked a new wave of technologies and fields of study, even though my kind have already developed an alternative FTL method of travel" with that comment the Citadel party stood at the edge of their seats. "300 years ago, one human scientist named Robert Lutece created the first Rift gate, a dimensional gate capable of connecting to points of space in an instant; several developments of that technology allow us to build our space station scale rift gates; these rift gates work similar to a hadron collider and unlike the mass relays they are smaller and far cheaper to produce. Even before activating our first mass relay, the Human Commonwealth had already surveyed nearly a hundred systems and established dozens of colonies. But we remained careful about our expansion and the activation of the mass relays, for one reason, in the prothean ruins we found records of their extinction" her tone of voice grew darker and the expressions of the Citadel representatives became even more somber.

"After an military and industrial development my people finally began activating the dormant mass relays we found on our path; but we set some limits in our expansion to avoid finding any hostile aliens in our way, be it protheans, reapers or others" she explained.

"Reapers?" the Matriarch asked.

"The ones who wipe out the protheans" the admiral answered. "I will eventually tell you about them, but for now let me continue explaining the history of the USC" she made a pause. "During one of our long range survey missions, one of our ships the CSV Kalypso made contact with a quarian ship that had crashed in a frozen planet later designated as Kaldir. After making first contact and exchanging information, the human team working on the quarian ship was attacked by the same group that had forced the quarian ship to crash landed on the planet, a crew of batarian slavers. A rescue mission later resulted in the liberation of both our people and the quarians, it was then that through the information provided by the quarians that our leaders decided that humanity was not ready to join into the larger galactic community, we gave the quarians the Batarian pirate frigate we have captured and allowed them to part in peace, with the promise that they will keep the existence of our species and civilization a secret, they kept their word" she finished speaking, the Citadel party was observing the images and video of the battle between the batarian slavers and the human soldiers.

"Why do you think your people were not ready to join to the greater galactic community admiral?" the matriarch asked with curiosity.

"Do I really need to answer that Matriarch?" the admiral asked with indignation. "Your kind has been space faring for millennia while mine has done for little more than a century; we knew that making contact with you will probably leave our people in a weak position, without allies in a galaxy full of beings that may considered 'the new kids on the block' easy pickings; from what I have seen so far including our recent 'incident' with the Turians, I believe our leaders were proven right to maintain humanity away from your Council's reach"

"With all due respect Admiral, the Council wishes nothing more than peace between all sentient beings on the galaxy, what happened with you and the Turians was regrettable; it has left a clear black spot on the Hierarchy and Council's prestige and respect, but it may have been avoided if your human federation had established contact with the Citadel Council far earlier" the Matriarch countered.

"Perhaps" the human admiral answered. "But when we studied your Codex, your history we feared that you may could probably consider our kind a threat to your galactic peace. The krogans may have something to say about that."

"The genophage was…is something terrible, but it was necessary, if we haven't implemented it at the end of the krogan rebellions, our peoples and perhaps even yours could have been wipe out, while the krogans would be ruling the galaxy" the salarian admiral interjected.

"You may be right admiral" the human officer conceded. "Yet nothing comes out of thinking about the 'could have been', the future is all that matters. So continuing with our history, when the Human united government found out about the existence of your Council we limited our expansions and initiated a major military, scientific and industrial development, but more importantly we set ourselves to find allies. One ship called the CSV Shroud was sent to made contact with the Quarian Migrant Fleet we wanted to offer them a planet with a dextro based ecology to serve as their colony in exchange for their aid and expertise in mass effect technology and ship development, the mission not only succeeded and millions of quarians now live inside USC territory, with the Quarian Protectorate holding a seat on the High Council; but the Shroud also found two drifting ships that were holding the last survivors of two species, one was a derelict rachni ship that held dozens of frozen eggs including a queen's egg and the other was the talosian ark ship, which carried the entire talosian species of one billion with their consciences preserved in a virtual worlds and data core." Everyone looked back to the talosian ship overseer, perhaps understanding now his claim that he was over eight thousand years old.

"And that carries us to the other point of this meeting Matriarch, the other reason why my people never think about joining to your Citadel was because we knew we will never be welcome into your select group" she explained to the curious eyes of the Citadel party. "I understand that in order to join to the Citadel as an associated member you must follow the Citadel Accords which among other things specifically forbade the use of genetic modification or the development of AI technology. My people have been working with those technologies for centuries" there was a great concern on the eyes of the Citadel representatives. "What do you think LOKI?" the human admiral asked while looking up to the celling.

In an instant a human male wearing with his chest exposed wearing some kind of tribal clothes and having a body covered by tattoos was materialized into the room. It was either a new method of teleportation of a hologram with such a level of quality and definition that it could be mistaken with an actual person.

"This is LOKI" the human admiral presented him. "He is this ship AI, he is in charge of coordinating several tasks, and controlling the ship's firewalls and cyber warfare systems" she explained, at that moment Matriarch Seloni stood up from her chair and looked at the hologram with horror.

"You have a fully sentient AI operating your ship?" the Matriarch asked outraged. "With all due respect Admiral Comstock" she was getting tired of using that phrase. "Do you realize the dangers, of allowing a synthetic life form to have complete control of a military ship? Do you know what happened to the Quarians and the Geth?"

"Yes I know, Matriarch, I also know what mistakes led the Protheans to their extinction" she answered. "Now please sit down" the elder asari did as she was told. "I understand your fear to AIs matriarch, but LOKI here is as part of my crew as any human, talosian, kashani, quarian or rachni; and he is afforded the same level of respect as any of them."

"I can assure you Matriarch" the hologram began talking. "My loyalty to the USC is absolute, unlike the geth I have preferences and drives, that allow me to take my own choices, but I hold respect over sentient life and I hold respect and admiration for my fellow USC citizens; I may not be organic, but perhaps it is not biology what makes any being alive, but its though, emotions and drives" he declared with conviction.

"Perhaps the mistake of the quarians wasn't creating the geth but rather attempting to destroy them when they begin showing signs of conciseness" the admiral declared. "That is all LOKI, thank you" she said and the hologram smiled and vanished.

"My people technically speaking we are AIs" the talosian Ship overseer explained. "This body you see is organic, it was artificially cultivated and then implanted with neural connections designed to allow my conciseness and mind to be uploaded into it. In the strict sense, all my species is illegal under your Citadel laws."

"But; what about the Protheans?" the asari assistant asked, to the surprise of the entire room. "You claim you know what happened to them. How they disappeared"

"Well miss, upon discovering the hidden records at the martian archives we uncovered some degraded historical files about the protheans, their empire and their downfall. From what we could recover, the protheans were not the first species to rule the galaxy or to make use of the mass relay network" she explained to the shock of the group.

"After all you have found ruins dating back to hundreds of thousands of years, while the protheans disappeared fifty thousand years ago; before the protheans there was a race known as the inusannon, we believe that they either build or found the first of the mass relays, but a great civil war consumed their empire and the other races of their period. Perhaps it was during that time that the first of the Reapers were created" as she used that word, another hologram appeared on the table, it was like a synthetic cephalopod creature, of a colossal scale.

"Every single reaper was a dreadnought like ship, two kilometers long, designed as some sort of massive worker tasked to travel the galaxy and gather up resources to build in critical positions and sectors the gateways necessary to unify an entire galaxy: the mass relays" the salarian and the two asari exchanged looks. "Imagine this: there are a hundreds of mass relays each measuring above 10 kilometers long, and separating them stands a distance that will take centuries using conventional mass effect FTL; for organics it would take millions of years to build such a network, for synthetics perhaps only a few thousands." She made a pause.

"We believe the protheans managed to found and reactivate several of the mass relays and intact reapers using them to expand their empire and the mass relay network until they controlled the entire galaxy. In the center of the relay network they constructed the Citadel, their capital and the central control terminal for the mass relay network" she explained. "Somewhere along the line, the Reapers began showing signs of self-conciseness, fearing a rebellion of their most powerful slaves the protheans attempted to destroy them, they failed" she made a pause. "In what they called the Metacon War the protheans attempted to rally all organic space faring species of their time against the reapers, their client races also assimilated into the empire were also referred as low caste Protheans; their greatest assets perhaps were the rachni, which were used as cannon fodder against the reapers and for a time it seems like they were turning the tide; but the Reapers began to adapt to every strategy and doctrine and soon they were able to capture the Citadel and shut down the mass relay network; without it the prothean empire was picked apart piece by piece in a genocide lasting centuries." When she finishes speaking even the matriarch could not deny a sense of horror creeping over her soul.

"That is also one of the theories behind the initial rachni hostility against you; according to Maia the eldest among the brood queens of the Rachni Hive, something twisted the actions of the rachni long ago, the memory of the prothean enslavement was still fresh in their collective memories, so when they met you, a group of aliens using mass effect drives based on the prothean technology, they saw you as a resurgent prothean empire and they reacted with hostility. Also the Rachni only communicate among themselves by feromones at short range and at an organic quantum entanglement communicator at long distances; while most species in the galaxy including you can only communicate through speech and talk; for the rachni the first time they saw your kind, they believe your ancestors were as much alive as a VI assistant was to you" the admiral began showing pictures of the rachni queen's recovery and observation.

"Fortunately for us, we were able to actually communicate with the queen through the actions of one of our operatives, a lilim named Masha Lutz" she continued. "There is small percentage of the human population that is born with a genetic abnormality that provides them with some level of psi abilities similar to both the rachni long range communication and your asari mind meld" she explained to the shock of both asari.

"These individuals known as Lilims are generally born female, and they have been reported to possess a great level of empathic psi abilities. Their entire population however only represents about 2% of the entire human species; in one of our colonies, Praxis nonetheless Lilims represent a quarter of the entire female population. For very good reasons, a lot of our people are afraid of Lilims even though that in the military and intelligence services they are regarded with the high most respect. Perhaps the Lilims have a similar role in or society that the asari have with your…How do you call those asari born with a genetic predisposition for killing?" she made a pause studying the matriarch's face. "Ohh yes, the Ardak Yakshi" she explained smiling to the shock of the matriarch and her assistant while the Salarian admiral remained with a stoic expression. "Nevertheless returning to the prothean extinction let's end this story, shall we."

"Victorious, the Reapers look at the younger races that were still in a primitive state: Humans, asari, Salarians and Turians among them. They were not a threat but the Reapers could have wipe them out and all organic life on the galaxy; yet perhaps just like the geth who stopped hunting the quarians as soon as they were no longer a threat, the Reapers couldn't glimpse the consequences of eradicating all sentient life on the galaxy and as synthetics they were not moved by hatred or fear by rather an extreme drive for self-preservation and perfection; so instead of ruling the galaxy as its new master, they retreated to dark space perhaps travelling to another galaxy, but before they left, they reconfigured the mass relay network in order to allow the younger races to made use of it" the hologram began showing a map of the relay network with the homeworlds of every race highlighted. "Have you never wondered, why the mass relays were located in our respective home systems or why we have never found the prothean homeworld when according to logic it should have been that the central nexus of the mass relay network?"

For a minute the whole room kept silence. _When the Council finds out about this, the very foundations of the galaxy and its history will be shaken. Also the news that the rachni are alive and that the quarians had been working with the USC for decades will be an even bigger shock than the existence of AIs in the USC._

"Admiral could you please provide us with a copy of your codex and history" Matriarch Seloni asked.

"Of course Matriarch" she answered. "But now, enough history lessons; my government has authorized me to sign an armistice. In simple terms an armistice is a cessation of military hostilities with a set expiry date and possible exchange of prisoners of war, the terms are unique each time. Then, while this is in effect, both sides consult their governments as to what would be acceptable peace terms. When the deadline comes the two sides decide whether to enter peace negotiations or restart the war."

"Should they decide to negotiate, the armistice stays in effect for the duration and the lead ambassadors then decide the main points in general terms. Once they have decided on a point it is sent to a team of aides from both sides who work out the details of the proposal and send it back to the ambassadors for approval. The final peace deal is then sent back to both sides governments for ratification."

"As a gesture of goodwill I will allow you to take several dozens of our turian prisoners baring the flag officers, home" she finished. "Once the ambassador arrives and you have made contact with your government, we can begin to discuss more delicate matters: War reparations, territorial lines and peace and diplomatic agreements"

"I consider those terms agreeable, admiral" she said as she returned to her diplomatic persona.

 _For the good of my people and the Citadel I must recover as much information and Intel as possible, about this USC, if everything they say is true; then the Council will have to content with a rival capable of matching them or even surpassing them for the very first time in centuries._

XXXXX

 **CODEX:**

 **Commonwealth's Human Federation fleet – 2155:** By the eve of the First Contact War there were more than 4000 warships operated by Humanity in service of the Unified Systems Commonwealth. This number was considerable large for galactic standards at that time, taking into account the Turian Hierarchy (the largest military power in the galaxy) at the moment counted a fleet of over 10000 warships with 35 Dreadnoughts amongst them. Also the technological supremacy of the USC made the Human Federation an opponent capable to match even the Turian, Asari or Salarian navies separately, but not the combine forces of the entire Citadel at full strength on a long term war.

The Human navy was organized in powerful battle groups located at critical sectors and in proximity to strategically located mass relays and Rift Gates. These fleets were also separated in smaller flotillas and squadrons divided among various colonies and outposts, with the importance or population of the colonies determining the strength of their respective garrison fleets.

At the beginning of the first contact, the Human Federation held 10 fleets that represented the bulk of the USC's navy:

 **1° Fleet:** More than half of the ships of ENDF (Erebus Nexus Defense Fleet) are part of the Federation's First Fleet, the rest are war ships of the Talosian Assembly, Rachni Hive, Kashani Coalition and Quarian Protectorate. The commander of the ENDF and the 1° fleet is fleet admiral Elizabeth Comstock; however she recently took a leave of assent as she has been overseeing the construction of a new generation of war ships at the orbit of Hades Prime, leaving the command of the ENDF to Fleet Overseer Jiul'Ka'Niur commander of the talosian fleet. As the Erebus Nexus stands as the capital and beating heart of the USC, the ENDF is composed of some of the most advance ships of the USC and holds many of the best and brightest officers of the five species of the Commonwealth.

Base: Erebus Nexus

Strength: 6 human flotillas; 1 Talosian battle fleet; 1 Rachni hive fleet; 2 Kashani flotillas; 1 quarian squadron.

Capital ships: CSV Everest (human dreadnought); CSV Aconcagua (human dreadnought); 3 rachni Devourer class dreadnoughts; 1 Talosian Titan class Battleship; 2 Kashani fleet carriers; 1 Quarian dreadnought; CSV Stephen Hawking (fleet carrier – de facto flagship of the ENDF); CSV Dawn of Infinity (Uber dreadnought – Flagship of the ENDF)

 **2° Fleet:** Better known as the Terran Home Fleet, the Second fleet lead by Admiral Kastanie Drescher is responsible for protecting Earth, the Sol system and the local cluster. Because of its importance, the second fleet is the largest fleet on the human navy.

Base: Hephaestus Station (Earth's Orbit)

Strength: 8 human flotillas

Capital ships: CSV Klimanjaro; CSV Olympus; CSV Carl Sagan

 **3° Fleet:**

Base: Arcadia

Strength: 6 human flotillas

Capital ships: CSV Nicola Tesla

 **4° Fleet:**

Base: Hades Prime

Strength: 6 human flotillas

Capital ships: CSV Fuji; CSV Namba Parbat; CSV Galileo Galilei

 **5° Fleet:** Commanded by Admiral Jean Lefleur

Base: Arcturus Station

Strength: 6 human flotillas

Capital ships: CSV Isaac Newton; CSV Mauna Kea; CSV Chimborazo

 **6° Fleet:**

Base: Arcturus Station

Strength: 6 human flotillas

Capital ships: CSV Copernicus; CSV Denali; CSV Mauna Loa

 **7° Fleet:**

Base: Columbia

Strength: 6 human flotillas

Capital ships: CSV Robert Lutece

 **8° Fleet:**

Base: Praxis

Strength: 6 human flotillas

Capital ships: CSV Brigit Tenembaum; CSV Makalu; CSV Lhotse

 **9° Fleet:**

Base: Shinon

Strength: 6 human flotillas

Capital ships: CSV Yi Suchong; CSV Daulagiri; CSV Mont Blanc

 **10° Fleet:**

Base: Exodus Cluster – Terra Nova

Strength: 6 human flotillas

Capital ships: CSV Albert Einstein; CSV Logan; CSV Kinabalu

 **-Singularity Core – Rift Drive:** The main power core of the USC capital ships and rift gates is the singularity Neutron-Antimatter power core. This energy generator was first developed by Nicola Tesla and the Luteces centuries ago, and then perfected by Gilbert Alexander and Yi Suchong on Rapture decades later. The Singularity core combines the creation of antimatter in a small scale hadron collider with the synthesizing of the ultra-dense particles of Hyper Neutrons (or strange matter, the particles located on the inner core of a neutron star, the second densest object in the universe after black holes; where the gravitational forces are so extreme that even atoms and quarks began to compress). The interaction between the antimatter particles and hyper neutrons generates an energy output comparable to a microscopic supernova. Absorbing energy through synthetize throrium crystals made by the effects of enormous amounts of plasmid electroshocks the energy made by the Singularity core is sent through the ship by the use of a semi-neural connections to power weapons, systems or rift gate siphons.

 **-Aconcagua Class Dreadnought:** Designed by Mc Donagh Star Engineering, the Aconcagua class is the modern first line dreadnought of the Human Federation's fleet. The warship stands 1350 meters long with an axial gun of 120 kilotons of power. Protected by a taquion shielding, kinetic barriers, cyclonic barriers and several layers of Reader ship armor, it is one of the most durable vessels of the galaxy. Powered by a combine mass effect singularity core, this dreadnought's weapons stand as the largest on the USC's fleet; making use of a single high power Negative Ion cannon, two Tiamat cannons and several batteries of coil guns. Capable of traversing through mass relays, it is generally use as the flagship of rear admirals and join flotillas battle groups.

 **-Hawking Class Fleet Carrier:** One of the largest ships of the galaxy the Hawking class stands as the core of the USC sector fleets. The ship stands 1620 meters long, carrying a crew complement of 4000. Unlike dreadnoughts the fleet carriers main offensive capability is their immense cargo of squadrons of fighters, bombers and corvettes; but the most remarkable trait of the Hawking carrier it's the experimental rift gate siphon installed on the ship, which allows the vessel to traverse enormous distances in the blink of an eye without the use of rift gates or mass relays. The absence of an eezo core also represents a weakness and an edge: this ship is uncapable to travel through the mass relays but it can transport a full fleet by opening a rift gate with its siphon to another system with clear coordinates. Even though the Hawking doesn't carry large weaponry, mass accelerator or tiamat cannons, it is equipped with state of the art point defense weaponry and torpedoes: featuring an immense array of ion laser point defense cannons and a massive supply of disruptor torpedoes. The ship also carries several fabricator and recycler facilities serving as a sort of mobile foundry for the USC fleet.

 **-CSV Dawn of Infinity (USC Uber Dreadnought):** There is perhaps not a greater symbol of human and USC military and technological might than the Dawn of Infinity, a prototype Uber Dreadnought and carrier designed to become the flagship of the Erebus Nexus Defense Fleet. The colossal vessel stands 8250 meters long with a shape similar to a mix between a dreadnought and a carrier. The crew of the vessel is equally impressive holding 25000 people onboard coming from every species of the USC. The ship is powered by the most immense and experimental singularity core on the USC navy. An enduring symbol of the power of the High Council and the Commonwealth, the ship is commanded by Fleet Admiral Comstock and oversees the entirety of the entire joint USC fleet. The ship carries the largest arsenal on the entire fleet; with an axial gun of over 1500 kilotons, and batteries of coil guns as large as cruisers; according to simulations the uber dreadnought is as powerful as an entire Council fleet. Even though it has been designed as a military vessel, the Dawn of Infinity holds hydroponic gardens, foundries, and labs; making it a mobile command center for the elite of the USC in case of massive war; or a deep exploration vessel. The ship's name is based on the last phrase of Isaac Asimov novel The End of Eternity: "it is the end of Eternity and the beginning of Infinity".

 **And the chapter is over, this one took a while. I made some modifications to other chapters; please check the prologue and chapter 5.**

 **I hope you have enjoyed it, please let me know of any errors. By the way the history of the protheans tell here, is based on shattered records and interpretations, some of the mystery regarding the Reapers must remain until the end.**

 **As always: I do not own Mass Effect nor Bioshock**


	11. Chapter 9: The Titan Awaken

**Chapter 9:** **The Titan Awaken**

 **Hi everyone, it has been a long time since my last update, my hands had been tied down with work and a personal project; an architecture contest to develop a self-sustainable house, wish me luck.**

 **FOR THE RECORD I KNOW MY GRAMATICAL ERRORS ARE DISASTROUS, that is why I am writing this story, to improve both my writing and my English. I know my worldbuilding could use an improvement, but I am trying to balance my own story with the most striking and original elements of both Mass Effect and Bioshock.**

 **I was surprised no one mentioned the presentation of so many characters in the last chapter: Desolas Arterius (Saren's brother), Anderson or Dr. Chakwas.**

 **This chapter will be shorter than the others, you cannot expect to write a chapter of 20000 words each month, besides we all have real lives.**

 **I have made some corrections on the previous chapters so I hope those who are new to the story to miss my catastrophic writing.**

 **As a pretty long time has been since my last update, I give you here a detailed explanation of the USC, and the story in recent chapters. I am sorry if it's too long, but I want to better develop a few points in the USC species and history.**

 **CODEX:**

 **Humanity and the Unified Systems Commonwealth – Preliminary report for the Citadel Council, based on the historical data received and turian war prisoners' interviews:** Human civilization first evolved on their homeworld of Earth, a medium size garden world orbiting a standard single star. The conditions of the stable environment of Earth so similar to the Asari homeworld of Thessia (other than the lack of eezo deposits on Earth) may serve to explain the striking similarities between the two races (not only in body appearance but also in common amino acids in both species organisms). Unlike many other races, humans have an incredible wide range of racial, genetic and cultural diversities. While in other worlds a single evolutionary chain of the main species tends to fight its way to the apex of the predatory chain of their race, eradicating the others, just like in Earth the Homo sapiens led the Homo Neanderthals to near extinction. In the humans case the presence of diverse environments on their homeworld and a constant evolutionary history based in competition but not always supremacy allowed for the development of a single species containing an entire kaleidoscope of cultures and ethnic groups.

The diverse societies and different nations across human history makes the history of the species one of never ending war and strife; but the constant competition and exchange between one another also allowed for an impressive rate of technological leaps and social changes across a relatively short history (Asari first develop written language 30000 years ago and developed an industrial revolution nearly 20000 years later; while human's widespread use of written tongue is only 6000 years old and industrial development is barely 600 years of age. In retrospect, have the human achieved written language at the same time as the Asari conditions suggest they now would have been space faring for more than 20000 years).

When the humans first divided the atom, and discovered that their own self-annihilation was almost certain, a group of them secluded themselves in an isolated region of the Earth's South Pole, building a secret city and society to work hidden from the most conflicted and totalitarian nations of their planet. The city known as Rapture became ground zero for a never ending wave of technological developments that were advance even in comparison to some technologies use by Citadel species. Even technologies and developments considered illegal by the Council have become widespread: Nowadays fully self-aware AIs help to maintain cities, stations and ships through the USC, with even a charter of rights and duties provided to almost every synthetic life form on their space. Genetic and cybernetic augmentations can be found in almost every level of human society, specifically in the military where most troops, soldiers and sailors receive gene therapy treatments to improve their strength or stamina and some even receive advance cybernetic implants to improve their memory and brain processing speed. While many races in Citadel space would not hesitate to call those practices acts of barbarians and an irresponsible tampering of the very essence of the nature and the sacred form of a species; humans make use of a 'tier citizen structure' where every individual no matter their status in human society must prove themselves 'capable and worthy' of receiving those augmentations. Humanity's search of perfection and self-improvement has given away to a small sub species of humanity: the Kori Lilith or Lilims, females and males with abilities unique among the races of the galaxy, and perhaps the very first indication of a new step on human evolution.

The discovery of an ancient complex of Prothean ruins in the nearby world designated as Mars became the spark that allowed both the unification of the Human race and the ascension of the race into a space faring civilization. Unlike the rest of the advance species in the known galaxy, the humans developed their space faring dominion not only through the mass effect technology and the relay network but also through the use of an alternate mean of FTL known as the **Rift portal trans dimensional tear**. An ever growing network of ring like structures (rift gates) are constructed and repositioned across their space serving as the gateways through the traffic and communications travel back and forth through human claim space. It is this method of FTL and connection that represents the greatest concern for Citadel analysts, as humanity claims its dominion over hundreds of planets and systems, giving them a much larger area to harvest resources, spread their infrastructure and relocate their population. While for the rest of the galaxy, the space between the mass relays is too far and too vast to explore and exploit without cost, and even normal FTL system to nearby system consumes time and resources that most races would do anything to reduce. The Rift gates are apparently cheap to build and maintain, and it seems they are far more versatile and efficient than the mass effect relays.

In the human year 2109 a single human ship the CSV Kalypso, made contact with a quarian crew and were engaged in combat against a group of Batarian pirates and slavers, marking humanity's first contact with another sentient space faring race.

In a remarkable turn of fate, the humans perhaps inspired by the secrecy of the city of Rapture during the cold war, agreed to remain in a position of isolation and secrecy preferring not to reveal the human civilization to the greater galaxy unless it was on the time of their choice and on their terms. By mere chance or fate, Humanity found allies in not only the nomadic quarians but also in the indecipherable Talosians, the voracious Rachni and the exotic Kashani. Helping each of those species to develop their own dominions and rebuilt their societies.

After the discovery of a massive ancient alien construct orbiting a long dead world, with a massive scale of 110 kilometers of diameter, even surpassing the Citadel in size, the Human Commonwealth transitioned into a joint multi species organization with the construct now known as the Erebus Nexus acting as its capital. The Unified Systems Commonwealth is considerable young while compared to the Citadel Council but their scale, technology and population makes them a force to be recon.

The USC is composed of five species; all of them have a seat on the central government of the organization the High Council:

-Humans are the primary species of the USC; they possess the largest economy and military of the Commonwealth, and as such the Human Federation decisions are the most prominent within the organization. The discovery of an alternate mean of FTL and ship power core, has allowed the Federation to field numerous warships of massive size and scope, ranging from small frigates using mass effect drive cores to immense dreadnoughts and carriers powered by singularity neutron-antimatter cores. In Commonwealth space Humans had lay claim to dozens of garden class planets, and are in the process of terraforming many others.

-The Talosian Assembly is the second foremost power within the USC. The Jul'Iliani race as the species was originally known was almost condemned to extinction 8000 years ago when their native star began to wither and die in the process to turn into a supernova. Without any knowledge of FTL or mass relays in their vicinity, they were left with only one path to preserve their race, culture and history: uploading their consciousness into an enormous server designed to keep them in a virtual reality, while the ship containing the server traveled through space by normal propulsion. After being discovered by the humans they reshape themselves into a new race and a new people; the Talosians. A civilization of synthetic entities uploaded into bio engineered organic bodies, the Talosians are incredible advance, making use of state of the art reconverted human technologies in every area of their society, from civilian, cultural and military. Divided into five ruling castes: Alpha, beta, epsilon, sigma and omega; the Talosian society is hierarchical and straight forward, with every citizen push to improve themselves and the rest of the society. As they are a species who pursue function over form, by uploading their consciousness on different "sleeves" (common nickname for synthetic or organic bodies) they can live and work in the most inhospitable environments. Many Talosians can live their entire lives in space stations and asteroids, employing a huge range of drone and VI assistance in their endeavors. Religion does not take a primary place in Talosian culture, in ancient times the Jul'Iliani worship a deity known as 'the mother of equilibrium' a goddess of some form who shape the universe base in mathematical orders as such an observation of nature, growth and ratio was considered sacred by the ancient Jul'Iliani, and even though religious sentiments had been relegated to a memory or a secondary cultural tradition a vision for 'an order of things' like a blueprint guiding everything in the galaxy still holds weight in the Talosian mindset. Works of art, architecture and warships are designed through mathematic principals like the golden ratio. In the USC macro society many Talosians are respected as administrators, scientists, military officers and engineers and several of the USC most powerful warships are of Talosian design. The existence of a race such as the Talosians that has in a way surpassed their organic limitations and bodies into a more unlimited bio-synthetic existence has left many Council analyst baffled as how to classify this unique civilization and their potential threat to the galaxy.

-The oldest and most feared enemy of the Council, the Rachni Hive is a critical powerhouse within the USC. They possess the largest population within the USC and the second largest territory after the Human Federation. Under the leadership of Empress Maia the oldest queen found by the CSV Shroud years ago they have grown into a considerable empire, their relationships with their allies in the USC are maintained by the Order of Interpreters, a select group of highly trained Human Lilims Psi operatives who serve as ambassadors and representatives. Rachni workers perform their duties in various industries across the USC, and Rachni soldiers could represent the single largest land-force in the galaxy. Most distressing however is the use of human technology in their so call 'hive fleets' and the use of genetic and cybernetic augmentations in various Rachni troops, so as the development of praetorian bio suits for rachni brood warriors. If fully unleash, the Rachni Hive may represent the greatest threat the Council has ever experienced in its history; one that may not even the turians and Krogan may be able to stop.

-The Kashani were the last race to join the USC and the last of them to have achieved FTL technology, so they could be classify as the less likely to represent a threat to galactic stability, the Kashani Coalition however is not to be underestimated. A confederacy of different clans and nations, the kashani Coalition are the third USC race in population, with a dozen colonies claimed in the proximity of their homeworld; while other millions of Kashani live in joint settlements in human or talosian colonies. Because of their nearly eidetic memory and impressive focus and meticulous mental disciplines the Kashani have become a critical part of the Commonwealth's macro culture, bureaucracy and war machine. In a similar manner to the Salarian STG, many kashani operatives work inside the jointly operated CISB (Commonwealth's intelligence and security bureau); serving as agents, analysts and researchers. The Kashani are the species most well integrated into the overall USC society, with kashani citizens taking part in joint settlement and colonies in Human, Talosian and even Rachni planets. Kashani corporations are also primary players in the USC markets; most importantly since their integration with the USC the Kashani Muin-Saku Bank stands as one of the greatest financial institutions in the USC even in comparison with the Human Federation's banks. Even in its infancy the Kashani fleet both military and civilian is of considerable scale, operating even several kilometer long starships for cargo, trade and resource harvesting known as super freighters. The kashani military fleet unlike the Citadel races is focus around carriers containing almost no dreadnoughts on their formations, this issue makes it difficult to determine the danger impose by the kashani military.

-The Quarian Protectorate is the less prominent member of the USC because of their small population, economy and military. Despite this the Quarians have requested and have been granted the position of client race of the Human Federation, integrated with the humans, Quarians citizens work in various areas of the Federation's industry and military. More akin to the union of the Hanar and the Drell that the one of the Turian and Volus; Quarians maintain the closest relationship of the USC species with the Humans. This relationship is better displayed within the Federation's military: In the human fleet Quarians most often than not serve as engineers, scientist and lower and medium echelon officers; while in the Federation's Marine Corps Quarians Praetorians Templar Units are focus around anti synthetic warfare. As always the greatest concern regarding the Quarians is the huge scale of the migrant fleet, if equipped with state of the art human weaponry and technology then there may be no force in the galaxy capable of stopping it.

In retrospect the Unified Systems Commonwealth or USC for short is like a dark reflection of the Citadel Council, a multi species organization acting much more clustered together in some areas and more independent in another. While its youth and weaken state of its less prominent members makes the USC a coalition still unstable and isolationist; the hard truth is that if their impressive expansion and growth in recent decades and their victory against the Turians on the relay 314 incident are anything to go by; it is reasonable to admit their power and reach will most likely surpass the entire Citadel and its races in only a few decades or centuries. Maintaining peace and collaboration with the USC must be considered a critical condition for the Council until a state of technological balance can be achieved. Special concern must be applied to the relations with the leading race of the USC the humans to allow for a technological exchange, and to prevent further military conflicts or diplomatic scandals between the two powers.

XXXXX

 **2155.07.18**

 **Council Chambers, Citadel**

 **Widow Nebula**

In her 763 years of life never before has Councilor Tevos Callis the unofficial leader of the Citadel Council felt so baffled and uncertainty about what to do. After Matriarch Seloni had send her report, detailing the encounter and talks with the human Admiral Comstock and other representatives of the USC as well as a short Codex detailing the history of the USC and its members, the reaction for the Council had been mixed. The Turian councilor Prateus had reacted with anger for the unconceivable new Turian defeat the humans had inflicted in them, and after reading the USC Codex he was outraged for the acts of the Quarians in proving the humans with information about the Turian military. He was about to order every Quarian in the citadel arrested and every Migrant fleet vessel forfeit but Councilor Eshael was quick to inform them that every single Quarian had left the Citadel and the Quarian Migrant fleet has moved out of Citadel space. The Salarian Councilor Eshael had reacted with deep concern, especially regarding the Rachni; admiral Hillot had send his own report describing with great detail and concern the technologies use by the USC; if this conflict continues there was no denying the Council was at a great disadvantage.

At the very least the humans were honorable, in the last few days since the signing of the armistice ending the First Contact War, Turian war prisoners have been systematically released into the Council's fleet custody; some were in rough shape but none of them had been tortured or mistreated apparently. Their reports and interviews confirmed many of the observations and declarations of the humans: an alternate mean of FTL using some kind of wormhole manipulation; a massive energy shield protecting an entire colony settlement and a powerful fleet and warships of remarkable power and scale. Only the flag officers of the Turian fleet remained in human custody still.

The most interesting issue of the USC was this 'Erebus Nexus' superstation that according to the Codex was far larger than anything in the known galaxy including the Citadel. She will see it with her own eyes soon enough.

"Councilor Tevos the USC diplomatic delegation is about to arrive" the executor officer of C-Sec informed her, through her office communicator.

"Thank you, Executor" she answered, before standing off her seat and marching out of her office.

Arriving at the Presidium docks a few minutes later she encountered her colleagues Prateus and Eshael awaiting for her, in company of two dozen C-Sec security officers, around them barricades had been placed to contain the wave of civilians and press, trampling on each other to get a peek on the aliens that had stir so much in so little time. In the vast view of the gorgeous nebula, was an immense ship of human design standing one kilometer and half long, surrounded on all sides by at least a hundred turian cruisers and frigates; its shape looked sharp and angular yet elegant in some way, like a carnivorous silver fish from Thessia. The humans had designated that ship as the fleet carrier CSV Nicola Tesla. Scanners had confirmed that other than its Point defense weaponry and its cargo of fighters and corvettes, the ship carried no weapons, but its scale even longer than the Destiny Ascension was unnerving to say the least.

A single drop ship escorted by two fighters had been deployed from the carrier, and was on its way to the dock, where the Citadel welcoming committee awaited. Shouts and murmurs increased as the crowds outside wrestled with the C-Sec officers keeping them in place, finally in a span of minutes that felt like hours in Tevos's mind the human drop ship landed. In a clear display of discipline and coordination ten soldiers cladded in impressive exo-suits (known in codex as praetorian: Lancers) moved out of the ship in unison and immediately formed two lines with five soldiers on each facing opposite to the other. Then from the ship six beings came out, two were humans and female the rest were apparently the representatives of each USC species; a fairly tall talosian male, what looked like a Kashani female, a single quarian male wearing a more formal suit with his grey skin face open for all to see instead of hidden behind a helmet, and finally a huge black insectoid rachni brood warrior; the murmurs and shouts around them had finally calmed down replace by a deep silence and a few low whispers.

The C-Sec officers even though they did as ordered and kept their weapons in place looked at the rachni creature with a mix of fear and apprehension, ready to draw their weapons in case the monster dared to attack the Council.

The USC representatives lead by the eldest human female moved towards the Council. Both Tevos and Eshael maintained stoic looks, even though both of them were a little nervous; Prateus instead was looking at the USC party, in particular at the human representative with barely disguised contempt. The ten praetorians lowered their weapons and in a perfect coordination made a salute at their diplomats, in a clear show of respect that surprised even Tevos.

The leading human representative, a female of golden fur on her head and brown eyes looked so much like an Asari that it was difficult not to compare her with an Asari matron; the other human female had much more soft and gentle features with piercing blue eyes, she looked young just like an Asari maiden.

Taking the lead, Tevos made one step forward, Eshael and Prateus did the same.

"Welcome to the Citadel" she began, breaking the silence that had befallen on the dock. "I am Councilor Tevos, representing the Asari Republics. This is Councilor Prateus and Councilor Eshael, representing the Turian Hierarchy and Salarian Union, respectively." She explained as she bowed her head and body forward in a salute of respect.

"Thank you, Councilor Tevos" the leading human representative answered, giving them an honest smile. "I am Ambassador Anita Goyle, representative of the Human Federation" she explained, as she turned to her companions. "These are Spokesman Tarlon Gyu'Juil representative of the Talosian Assembly" she waved to the four arms being standing next to her. "Ambassador Ashuir Ni Sialket representative of the Kashani Coalition" she said, looking at the female kashani. "Governor Karion'Nuzzra vas Rannoch Nova, representing the Quarian Protectorate" she waved at the Quarian representative. "And finally the representative of the Rachni Hive and Empress Maia, and his interpreter, Ensign Julia Cruz" she explained while looking at the rachni brood warrior and the young human next to it. "We are honor to be here" she concluded.

"You did not tell us his name?" Councilor Prateus asked with suspicion, looking at Ambassador Goyle and then the Rachni brood warrior, but it was the young human the one who answered.

"Rachni do not have names as you would put them, they communicate one another through a wave of pheromones at short range and a quantum entanglement psi-link at long ranges. They refer to each other by their role in the structure of the hive; only a few of the queens have chosen names for themselves and only for communicating with other species" she explained, before adopting a deadly serious tone. "This warrior here acts both as an independent being and a representative of the Hive's queens, I act as their translator" she concluded.

Tevos felt another chill going through her back, this was one of the human lilims described on the Codex, a highly evolved being capable of reading a sentient being feelings and reactions and even thoughts through effort. Looking back to Eshael and Prateus, both of them were also slightly nervous, many of the recently released turian officers had described in great detail their interrogations at the hands of their human captors, especially on the case of lilim interrogators. In their interviews, the Turian officers claimed that the Lilims were like normal humans, but you could never lie to them, and every minute you spend with them, they ended up knowing more about you, that you about yourself. For instances in his report a Turian soldier named Kioren Platinus have described in detail his interrogation by who he suspected to be a Lilim woman: when asked for the location of his homeworld of Palaven, he did not answer, thinking instead in his family back home and his younger sister who could be in danger if he reveal anything; then the human interrogator asked him about his sister even knowing her name and even knowing some facts about his personal life that there were no way such an information could have been recovered from computers or espionage. Focusing her mind to nothing and keeping her mental discipline in check, Tevos turned back to Ambassador Goyle.

"A pleasure to meet you all, I am glad we have been able to stop this senseless loss of life, that has become this first contact" she declared.

"A war started by your kind nonetheless" Councilor Prateus sharply declared, drawing a concern look from both Tevos and Eshael; taking a few steps forward he locked gazes with the human ambassador who to her credit did not bat an eye, even while confronting the taller Turian politician.

"May I remind you Councilor Prateus that it was a Turian admiral the one who decided to ignore a first contact package and invaded our space, and it was a Turian admiral who decided to attack the human colony of Shanxi even after establishing contact with the garrison and refused the offer of diplomacy granted by General Williams" she calmly retorted. "Thousands of humans lay dead just as they do Turians; I am here to try to stop that" she declared with conviction.

"So as we do" Tevos said, trying to avoid any more confrontations. "Please follow me to our private council chamber from where we can draw any remaining details, and perhaps establish a lasting peace between our two powers" she ordered.

The Citadel and the USC party walked through the presidium escorted by both the C-Sec officer and the Praetorian guards; there was a lingering tension in both groups as they exchange hostile glances between each other.

The gleaming presidium was beautiful, and it could easily shock any newcomer to the core, as a lingering proof of how large and powerful was the Council and how impressive was the Citadel but the USC representatives looked curious yet unimpressed at the presidium.

"So what do you think of the Citadel, Ambassador Goyle, impressive isn't it?" Councilor Tevos asked the Human ambassador.

"Yes it is, the Protheans or whoever came before them were amazing builders, it is incredible to see it in person; before I had only seen it in pictures and vids provided by the Quarians." She gave her Quarian associate a short look. "It reminds me a lot of the Erebus Nexus" she declared.

"The seat of your joint government is it not?" the salarian councilor asked for the first time.

"Yes" it was the Talosian Spokesman the one who answered this time. "It was built by race we call the Juten, their planet was destroyed and they had no access to FTL technology or mass relays, so they survived for millennia by building a super space station capable of housing their entire civilization, mining the shattered remains of their planet for resources which they could use to expand and maintain their station. But for some unknown reason they became extinct, almost completely vanishing from the face of the galaxy, leaving only their superstation as the sole legacy of their people."

"Just like the Protheans" Councilor Eshael continued. "Fascinating, just how two great species capable of so much can end in such a way and have so similar outcomes. Galactic entropy some may say, the fate of every apex race according to some theories" she declared with hesitation.

"Let's hope any of us shall not meet a similar fate" the Kashani ambassador answered. "Yet it took us decades to repair and reshape the Erebus Nexus; saying it was a colossal undertaking would be an understatement" she commented.

"I am interesting to see your capital one day then, besides the Citadel and the former mining station of Omega in the Terminus Systems I doubt there is nothing else in the galaxy capable of comparing it to" Eshael added.

"Hopefully if these negotiations go smoothly, we can arrange for that" Ambassador Goyle answered.

Soon the group arrived at the Citadel embassies, as the great doors of the enormous building opened up for them there was a quick exchange of glances between the Turian Councilor and the human Ambassador, Tevos was hoping that tangible hostility between the two, would not compromise the discussion.

XXXXX

 **2155.07.19**

 **Council Chambers, Citadel**

 **Widow Nebula**

"Today on Citadel news, we mark a historic moment in galactic history as a new confederacy of different space faring races has entered into the galactic stage" the asari anchorwoman made a pause. "The event also marks the first time in Council Era in which a Council species has made first contact with multiple species at once" a set of images taken during the arrival of the USC diplomats, filled the screen, focusing specially on the three new species: the humans, the talosians and the kashani."

"The reaction through the galaxy has been the most diverse and extreme in recent era, since the arrival of the Commonwealth's fleet at the Citadel and the reports provided by the Council detailing the disastrous short war between the Turian Hierarchy and USC, and the subsequent cessation of hostilities the extranet has been bursting with diverse opinions and theories regarding the entry of this newcomers into the greater galactic community"

"The two greatest trending topics on the extranet forums are so far the distressing concern regarding the survival of the Rachni species and their role within this new power on the galaxy and this unknown method of FTL use in the USC vessels" she made a pause as the screen turned to show the recording of the USC fleet carrier arriving at the Widow Nebula through a raging storm of energy that looked like the unholy offspring of a wormhole and a gravitational storm. "The scientific community remains baffled about the 'rift portal tear' as USC representatives have called it as well as the absence of a single atom of element zero in the leading USC ship. For millennia the civilizations of the galaxy have constructed their modern societies around the mass effect FTL method and the mass relay network and even Council laws were drafted under the assumption that Mass Effect technology was the only logical progression of technology."

"Even though the peace treaty signed by the Council and the USC has left an open door for a peaceful coexistence with the humans and the rest of the members of the USC, an atmosphere of uncertainty has spread through every corner of Citadel space. No matter their intentions, the Unified Systems Commonwealth remains an anomaly, a new power in the galactic map free of the constrains of the Mass relay network and undoubtedly powerful." A tense silence was maintained by the anchorwoman.

Tevos, Prateus and Eshael watched as every channel reported the same, STG extranet reviews said the same without the sugar coating:

The Turian Hierarchy was on the verge of a political breakdown, the humiliation of their defeat at the hands of the humans had been a heavy blow in the Hierarchy's prestige and national pride, many were asking for the head of the Primarch, other were asking for a renewed offensive against the humans and the USC and finally there were those who had been calling for a change in the standard and predictably tactics and doctrines base in superior firepower and attrition base warfare, who now they had found themselves being heard for the first time in decades.

The markets had shifted and almost collapsed overnight with the panic provoked by the revelation of the chaotic war the Turians had get themselves into.

And finally in both the Salarian Union and Asari Republics a silent panic attack was happening in every segment of society for the 'return of the rachni' as the trending topic titles described the revelation of the new rachni civilization living within the USC. If they actually have the Rachni on their side, then the USC is a power with a nearly unlimited source of cannon fodder and cheap labor.

"So?" she asked her colleagues. "Any suggestions in how we can conduct our relationships with our new 'allies'?" Eshael and Prateus turned to her.

"Faaar too many variables" the salarian Councilor simply answered. "Keeping peace until we can achieve a state of technological parity seems critical, but human and USC accelerated rate of expansion and development… problematic" she made a pause. "Projections and simulations show the Human Federation economy surpassing our three economies combined within six decades, not to say of the rest of the USC. AI open development makes their industry and intelligence services remarkably efficient; genetic manipulation makes it difficult to force on them any kind of virus or plague capable of deposing them of their ability to engage in war" she made a pause not paying attention to the shock gazes of Tevos and Prateus, who could barely believe what she was saying. The female salarian released a short sight before continue speaking.

"Most critical of all, expansion and movement not constrained by the limits of normal FTL and mass relays; far too many variables" she looked back at Prateus, narrowing her eyes. "Turian's defeat on human colony both on the ground and in orbit, evidence of a well-equipped and experienced military; human defensive doctrine employs the use of shielding against orbital bombardment, impressive endurance strategy. Human offensive doctrine seems to focus in lighting counter attacks, bypassing enemy strong points, cutting supply lines and sowing chaos and confusion by disrupting communications and targeting headquarters all in an effort to weaken the enemy before attacking in force with superior firepower and numbers, also using technology and advance tactics to limit casualties."

"In short, we will be dealing with a lot of disadvantages if they decide to attack us in force" she sentenced.

Prateus released a long sight, before shifting on his seat.

"I've also seen the simulations; most of our tactics regarding space combat are designed following the limitations of normal FTL and the capabilities of our ships; we do not know the human ships combat endurance or the full capabilities of that monstrous super dreadnought they have waiting just beyond the relay 314" Tevos added.

"I've read the reports of Matriarch Seloni and admiral jurut" Prateus commented. "Spirits!" he released a heavy sight. "A war ship more than 8 kilometers long, how many of them, they could have?"

"What are you suggesting then Councilor?" Eshael asked Prateus in a tone that bordered on an ironic voice. "Considering we are in this disaster because of your kind and your damned Turian arrogance and pride" she added.

"MY KIND?" he nearly shouted. "If it weren't for my kind, it could have taken decades or even centuries before we've discovered the USC; and they would have known about every detail of us because of those damned suit rats; at least know we know about their existence now and we have a chance to stop them from becoming too powerful and threaten our supremacy."

Tevos bow rose upon hearing his words, he had a point and we was speaking with honesty; for the wellbeing of their respective peoples the Council needed to maintain its supremacy on the galaxy.

"Then we do what we must" she said in a cold tone surprising both Eshael and Prateus. "Facing the USC now would be an economic, politic and even military disaster, and facing them in the future without a guaranty regarding technological parity will be worse; we must think on the immediate long term."

The gears on her mind began to turn and soon she was drawing a long plan to counter the USC by whatever means necessary.

"The first order of business must be to maintain a state of peace between our two power, while at the same time we try to undermine USC power through diplomatic means, offering colonial rights to their still unknown members: the talosian and kashani; drawing them away from the humans and rachni and into us" both of her colleagues nodded in agreement. "2° we maintain a state of close borders, even declaring the Quarian Migrant Fleet no longer welcome in Citadel space" Prateus flexed his mandibles and nodded to that.

"3° most importantly if we cannot replicate their Rift gate technology then at least we can upgrade our weaponry; we increase dreadnought production and even allow for some unofficial allowances to avoid the treaty of Farixen. Most critically however shall be the recovery of the weapon use by both the USC and the Terminus Black Fleet" she made a pause. "The humans claim they found the technology for that energy beam capable of destroying a cruiser with one shot in a prothean ruin; perhaps the same could be say about the Black Fleet" she looked back at her colleagues. "We increase the operations against the pirates of the Terminus Systems; if we recover even a single of those Tiamat cannons intact then we can reverse engineer them and even up the scales."

"4° we seek weaknesses in the USC structure and the relationships between its members, do whatever it takes to undermine the ground in which they are standing, after all this Council has stood for 20 centuries while they have existed for less than 4 decades. Perhaps the Kashani could be the prime target as they are the newest species and the youngest space faring race of them."

"5° finally at the same time we try to charm the primary species of the USC: the humans into joining this Council" she declared with a predatory smile, while both Eshael and Prateus exchange looks of confusion and bewilderment respectably.

"¿What?" asked Prateus indignation on his voice.

"We are not going to grant them a seat on this council, not now, not in fifty thousand years" she answered. "But if we can coaxed them into opening themselves to us in exchange for becoming part of those few capable of shaping the galaxy, we may be able to gain resources to use against them: technology at best, information at least" she explained.

"The Humans have only been space faring for little more than a century, their culture is still young, they are full of contradictions and internal conflicts" she made a pause adopting a dead serious look. "But they are unique; they are an anomaly with a powerful fleet and allies to defend them. They are expanding and growing too fast, but only among 6% of their population works on the military according to their codex, they are a sleeping Titan, and we must do whatever it takes to keep that Titan from awaking." She sentences as both Prateus and Eshael nodded in understanding.

 _This galaxy belongs to us, I am not going to let anyone or anything to take it away from my people; not the Humans, not the Protheans return, not those imaginary Reapers_

XXXXX

 **2155.07.19**

 **Juttenheim System; Rift gate 147**

 **Prison ship in route to space port**

A small converted dropship barely larger than a sky bus went through the threshold of the rift gate at the edge of the Juttenheim system with ease.

General Desolas Arterius looked around him, between his Turian sisters Admiral Survan and General Orinia and his Human…USC captors, shortly after the destruction of the fleet, reinforcements from the Human allies had come to assist them in guarding their Turian prisoners. Both he and Admiral Survan had been beyond surprised to find out the USC was an organization composed of multiple species in a similar matter to the Citadel Council, it only made the situation much more complicated and difficult to predict.

Even without orbital supremacy, General Orinia had continue fighting, something that had earned Desolas respect, before the Turian forces could even regroup several orbital strikes had destroyed plenty of their entrench positions, after securing orbital and aerial control the humans ships had deployed thousands of troops and armored vehicles.

Landing in several areas and too far from the city it was impossible for General Orinia to prepare an effective counterstrike or lighting strike on any landing zone.

Only their forward base, full of wounded personal remained after the first bombardment barrage, apparently human code of war prevented them from firing on non-combatants, if they could avoid it. After a few short skirmishes with the human punitive forces General Orinia surrendered, to the human General Williams and a Field Marshal named Zakharov.

The only one not present there was that coward of Admiral Victus who had dishonorably surrendered instead of dying like a Turian.

"Stand ready we are about to arrive" the human guard ordered them, Desolas recognize him it was the same male human that had perform his interrogation onboard the super dreadnought; his name and rank was specialist Jack Harper apparently. Next to him was the golden fur female Eva Core with her cold eyes locked in Admiral Survan.

"You should be grateful that we didn't kill you after the stun you did back in Fujian-Alpha" she declared with hatred. "What kind of admiral sacrifices her entire fleet to save her own hide?"

"Do not pretend to understand me human" Admiral Survan replied with disdain on her voice. "My soldiers were ready to die following my orders; and what? You want us to thank you for killing our brothers and sisters. And where in the spirits are you taking us?" she demanded.

"Home" the human female simply answered.

"So, you are transporting us to a prison camp in your homeworld of Earth" Admiral Survan said.

"Not exactly" the semi reptilian alien known as kashani using the USC uniform answered.

"We have arrived" the pilot a gray skin alien with a shape similar to a quarian informed them. "You guys should probably take a good look."

Desolas's eyes went wide as he stood from his seat and looked through the huge open window of the ship's cockpit.

In front of him was a huge ring like structure from which eight arms sprouted like the wards of the citadel in the center of the larger ring was a smaller ring containing an hourglass like structure like a machine of impossible dimensions. Near the colossal construct was the USC eight kilometer super dreadnought he had seen before, dwarfing every other ship around it; but even that super capital ship looked small in comparison to the station near it. Desolas had been to the Citadel countless times, and he had visit Omega before but this construct stood larger than the two of them combined. Next to him both Admiral Survan and General Orinia looked just as impressed as him.

"Welcome to the Erebus Nexus, capital of the Commonwealth" Specialist Jack Harper said.

"How large is this station?" Desolas couldn't help but asked.

"One hundred and ten kilometers of diameter and about 340 kilometers of circumference" he explained.

"As they approached the docking bay on one the 'arms' of the station, amazement turned to confusion when they saw an asari cruiser docked in one of the ports.

"Your friends are here to pick you up, Turians" the female Eva Core explained. "The war is over."

XXXXX

 **2155.07.19**

 **Juttenheim System; Erebus Nexus**

 **Hyperion Pylon, main dock**

When the ship landed in the docking bay, the three turian prisoners were released from their handcuffs. Being let into the back of the ship by the human guard detachment, the large hatch in front of them opened up and allowed Desolas and his colleagues to be received by an unexpected crowd.

In front of them, seemingly waiting for the three prisoners were two asari one clearly a Matriarch, a salarian military officer and Admiral Victus wearing still in his admiral attire when the three prisoners had been left to wear only their basic clothing. Next to the Citadel group was a line of Human soldiers with two human males at the front of them.

Desolas narrowed his eyes; he recognized the two of them: General George Williams commander of the garrison of the human colony of Shanxi and Captain Dewitt that N7 commando who had captured him.

The high ranking human officer moved forward, until he was standing right next to the matriarch.

"Matriarch Seloni in accordance to article 3 of the peace treaty between the USC and Citadel Council I release these prisoners into your custody" the old human said.

"Thank you, General Williams" the asari diplomat answered. "And thank you for inviting us into the seat of your government. This station truly surpassed even my greatest expectations; I have never even imagined such a structure could exist anywhere in the galaxy."

"TRAITOR!" Admiral Survan shouted, drawing the attention of the entire dock, before running and pummeling her fellow Turian Admiral Victus into the floor. "How could you have surrender instead of dying like a Turian soldier?" she asked the admiral as she made an attempt to strangle him, standing over the fallen admiral like an enraged woman after finding her husband sleeping with her sister.

"ENOUGH" the human commando captain Dewitt shouted, as three human marines moved to separate the two turian admirals.

Desolas instead moved to have a word with the two human officers.

"So General Williams, I hope you are enjoying the glory of your victory" he said in a tone that border mocking. "It only cost you a few thousand lives."

"Better than your people are enjoying your defeat" the General simply answered with a predatory smile. "And it was not the USC the one which lost three fleets and an entire legion of more than a hundred thousand soldiers."

"You know this is not over General Williams" Desolas threatened with a voice cold as ice.

"No, I know General Arterius" he answered. "This is only the beginning."

Both general turned their backs almost at the same time, with the Asari matriarch guiding the group back into her ship.

With the last Turian prisoners released the first contact war came to an official day, the Asari ship ARH Cybaen abandoned the Erebus Nexus dock and traveled through one of the mounted rift gate into the Fujian Alpha System and from there back home.

XXXXX

 **2155.07.19**

 **Juttenheim System; Erebus Nexus**

 **CSV Dawn of Infinity; Admiral Comstock's private quarters**

"Admiral the Asari ship has crossed the gate, they are gone" LOKI the ship's AI informed her

"Thank you LOKI" she answered. "Please activate private mode for 30 minutes."

"Yes Admiral"

As ordered all communications and observations devices surrounding the room of the admiral had been disabled, an electromagnetic shield had been deployed to block any signal and the hyper dense alloy of the walls was preventing anyone from using any sensors on the room. Not even god could see now what was happening in those private quarters.

Activating her private quantum entanglement communicator, the hologram of a man appeared in the middle of the room, there was nothing remarkable about him: brown hair, blue eyes, and a tattoo on each wrist right below the hand, a chain of some sort drawn in black ink.

"Hello Anna" he said.

"Hello Jack" she answered. "Moving to phase three now?"

"You tell me…" he answered. "You are the one who sees all of the doors and what's behind all of the doors."

"And behind one of them I see him" she said.

"Sheppard?" he asked.

She simply nodded.

"Then we are moving to phase three" he ordered. "Watch your players from that side; I will watch mines from here."

"It's time" he spoke.

"To end the cycle" she said.

"To put an end to the harvest" he spoke.

"TO BREAK THE CIRCLE"

 **I hope you liked this chapter; it was harder than I though**

 **As always: I do not own Mass Effect nor Bioshock**


	12. Chapter 10: Strange Bedfellows

**Chapter 10:** **Strange Bedfellows**

 **Since the last chapter was such a hit, I decided to rush this new chapter, be patient with me, writing takes time.**

 **This chapter was originally thought to be longer but I want to move the story forward as quickly as possible without compromising my writing.**

 **2157.04.09**

 **Orbit of Illium**

 **Crescent Nebula, Tasale System**

 _From: SPECTRE agent Tela Vasir_

 _To: Councilor Tevos_

 _Operation Demon Hunt was a success councilor; we intercepted a small flotilla of black fleet cruisers of batarian design in the Minos Wasteland cluster. We had the numbers on our side and we performed a short range FTL jump to disable the enemy ships with our short range weapons but they had superior firepower and very strong barriers we lost eight cruisers and fifteen frigates, while we could only destroy 5 enemy cruisers and disable a sixth. Black fleet cruiser main weapon has been recovered intact; we are taking it to our base on Illium for research. I hope the loss of so many lives may be justified by the new advances this technology may bring. Goddess be with you._

XXXXX

As the asari frigate ARH Divine Judgment approached the orbit of the colony of Illium her captain Jaira Vyur remained unnerved as the ship passed through the large fleet orbiting the planet, dozens of Asari and Turian ships moved like a swarm of Praggian demon bees, ready to strike as one, if the central colony on the frontier with the Terminus Systems was in any danger.

 _It looks like they are not taking any chances with the last raids through the colonies on the Traverse; the last reports are just as distressing as having a Spectre agent onboard._

"Captain, the security codes provided by the Spectre have been accepted" her second in command, a former Eclipse commando Nasha Lentinus informed her. "We have been cleared to land on the military dock of Nos Astra."

"Thank you Nasha" she answered, as she turned to leave. "You have the bridge."

She abandoned the bridge and began to walk towards the cargo hold in order to speak with their Spectre passenger. As she passed through Deck 2 she could see that her crew was nervous; they were speaking in hushed tones and they immediately stopped talking the moment they saw her approaching.

Two Asari commandos with their distinctive black form fitting uniforms were guarding the door to the cargo hold, Jaira hated that, Asari High Command could do whatever they want; but inside her own ship Jaira's word was law, she wasn't going to let anyone not even a Council Spectre give orders around like she own the place.

"Tell agent Vasir we are about to arrive to Illium, and have the package ready for disembark" she ordered the Commandos. "And if I see any mark or damage on my ship I am throwing both of you through the airlock" she sharply commanded.

"Yes captain" both commandos said at the same time, as they also nervously flinched.

Jaira felt a surge of lust going through her body as she watched the two young maidens shaking on their boots. Those commando suits left very little for imagination, and Jaira was almost drooling for a chance to get just one of those maidens into her private quarters and have her undressed completely; feel an innocent little tongue on her special place, she was feeling her blood boiling with desire. In fact she could do it if she wanted, she was a matron, their superior officer, and it was not above Asari tradition to 'instruct' a subordinate in how to please her superiors.

Her thoughts were interrupted when an alert from her omni-tool informed her that the ship was crossing the atmosphere, just as a minor turbulence went through the bulkheads before the inertial dampeners adjusted.

After docking in the military area of Illium Captain Jaira accompanied the Spectre Tela Vasir to the main hangar, Jaira felt a surge of relief as a crew of asari soldiers aided by a few mechs moved the wrecked artifact out of her ship. Even though it was only eight meters long and two meters wide, the cannon recovered from one of the Black Fleet's cruiser was something to behold. It had taken the sacrifice of two asari cruisers and five frigates to disable the cruiser carrying the weapon without destroying it completely.

The previous relief immediately turned to apprehension as she remembered how that weapon had carved through the barriers of the asari ships as they were nothing, according to limited Intel and rumors on the extranet USC weapons were far more powerful, she shuddered at the though. It was not hard to imagine why the recovery of even one of these weapons known as Tiamat cannons was so important to the Council.

Since the signing of the peace treaty with the USC two years ago, things have remained tense between the two superpowers: The USC had secured the entirety of their borders, deploying defense stations and satellites on every relay connected system at their frontier. The salarians and turians have remained especially nervous since the Fujian-Alpha system and Zodiac cluster were in close proximity to the Krogan DMZ; while the Horse Head Nebula was directly linked to salarian space.

The announcement of the prohibition for the Quarian Migrant fleet to travel through Citadel Space was a shock to everyone other than the Quarians themselves and the USC, who had apparently predicted the Council's reaction: The Quarians have retreated in full to their territory inside USC space in what rumors say, was a massive refitting of the entire Migrant fleet with USC technology for an eventual war with either the Council or the Geth.

In the rest of the galaxy however there were mixed reactions from every race and sector, some were relieved that the Quarian Migrant fleet was no longer strip mining entire planets to maintain itself but there were also colonies and companies for which the quarian services were critical to their operations, be it in the form of a cheap labor force or the enormous moving market and merchant line that was the Migrant fleet.

A limited trade between the Citadel species and the USC has been allowed, primarily of cultural artifacts like music or vids and primary products be it food or medicine; because the USC prohibited any advance technology exchange. Visits back and forth between Citadel and USC space were also hard to get yet not unusual; the entire galaxy has marveled when images of the Erebus Nexus and the USC banner ship the Dawn of Infinity arrived on the extranet. The superstation that was the USC capital and seat of government left both the Citadel and Omega in shame, while that USC super dreadnought was rumored to have enough firepower to crack a small moon.

But behind the joy and amazement was the lingering fear of a future war with the whole of the USC. As a result the Citadel Council was trying hard for any way to even up the odds, the salarians were researching and doing anything to replicate the rift gate technology; turians were expanding and rebuilding their fleets while also attempting to replicate human weaponry and finally the Asari were beginning operations to recover any technologies from the Terminus systems nations and groups like the Black Fleet.

Unfortunately the deployments against the Terminus fleet and the apparent 'Council's weakness' the Relay 314 incident has exposed, have emboldened numerous groups to band together with the Black fleet in raids and merciless attacks all through the Attican Traverse, entire colonies have gone dark, stations and research outpost were attacked and destroyed before anyone could call for reinforcements; and worse of all the Terminus Black Fleet has been nearly impossible to catch. While those few engagements between the Council forces and Black fleet generally ended with thousands of casualties for the Citadel forces; with the recovery of only destroyed and scorched remnants of Black fleet vessels, with little to no technology able for salvaging.

Finally after many sacrifices they had the means to level the playing field as the humans say. The striking resemblances between the Asari and humans had been of special interest to Jaira, human females were incredible beautiful, even the head fur had something exotic about it that made her loins boil with desire.

 _I heard they also have fur between their legs near their reproductive organs; I will have to see it someday, being over 500 allows you to go and try everything and everyone. Who knows I have always preferred my fellow Asari but if I give birth to daughters I don't want any of them to grow with the stigma of being called Pureblood._

Another signal from the Omni tool told her that she was needed on her ship, as the doors of the military hangar closed in front of her she turned back and headed for her ship.

The Spectre Tela Vasir was waiting for her in the bridge still in her Council Spectre issued armor which also made a good show of allowing the sight of her well tone body, yet she was looking at the console with worry.

"What is it?" she demanded.

"Something is wrong captain, we have lost all communication outside the Tasale relay" her first officer explained before allowing the Spectre to speak.

"We cannot reach the Citadel or anything outside the system, it could be an ion or solar storm but I doubt it. My instinct is telling me something doesn't feel right" Vasir explained.

Jaira look between her officers and the rest of the bridge, she also had a lingering feeling of dread inside her gut.

"ALERT!" the com officer warned them reading a priority message and calling for the attention of the entire bridge. "Multiple FTL signals have come in close proximity to the ships in orbit" she made a dreadful pause. "We are not receiving any more readings for our defensive fleet" she said in a tone lace with uncertainty.

As everyone was still processing what was happening, a red beam of energy coming from orbit hit the military complex near them making the entire ship shake because of the explosion.

XXXXX

 **2157.04.10**

 **Tesla Tower, city of Rapture**

 **Earth, Local Cluster**

Citadel News – Intercepted transmissions:

 _Today is a dark day for the Asari Republics and galactic civilization. The Asari colony of Illium in the frontier of the Terminus systems was attacked and occupied by an unknown force yesterday, surviving ships and refuges who were able to escape provided testimonies that immediately shattered the rumor that the USC was responsible for the attack as ship profiles observed by satellites and ship's sensors confirmed that the invading fleet was the infamous group known as the Terminus Black Fleet._

 _A message was sent through the extranet a few hours ago, in which a group calling themselves the Terminus Combine has taken credit for the attack. This terrorist group has called for the eradication of the Citadel Council calling it a 'fascist consortium of rich species' focused on maintaining their dominant position on the galaxy._

 _Little information has been exposed about how this ragtag assembly of pirates and criminals was able to invade and occupy one of the wealthiest and most critical Asari colonies on the Traverse. Yet rumors filtered across the extranet may suggest a possible involvement of USC technologies in the ships of the Black Fleet: the destruction of the Tasale System's comm buoys before the attack may imply the use of stealth ships by the Black Fleet and as stated in public reports this Terminus force is in possession of the direct energy weapon known as Tiamat cannon use in the ships of the USC navy._

 _Numerous reports confirm that the attack was not limited to Illium, the Turian colony of Castellum was also attacked by the Black Fleet with the pirates stealing a great deal of military hardware._

 _While the Citadel Council has maintained a stoic silence there are already countless reports of fleets and soldiers moving from Inner Council space to the Attican Traverse in an effort to liberate Illium and secure the rest of the Traverse. Discussion forums are already bursting with talks and theories regarding the Black Fleet; many ask ¿what is the role of the USC in all of this? Yet the question is everyone's mind is a single phrase: ¿Are we at war with the Terminus Systems?_

As the screen turned black, a middle age man sitting in a confortable chair wearing an elegant business man suit with a pin of the Federation's Parliament on the neck turned to his right and exchanged looks with the highest ranking officer in the USC military.

"So Anna, how do you want to play this?" he asked.

"As always, very carefully" she answered, before releasing a heavy sigh and turn to face the floor with a nearly guilty expression. "How many thousands of people you thing are dying now at Illium? What have we done?"

"Better a few thousands now, than several millions or billions later" he answered. "We have studied the simulations and predictions. We just can't inform the galaxy about the Reapers, if our alternate timeline has anything to say about it is that they will not believe us. Not to mention that we will be alerting Sovereign of our plans, we have to play the long term game allowing the Citadel races to believe their own story, not ours."

"I know" she sighted and answered. "I just don't like this; we are playing god, rewriting history, barely foreseeing the consequences, all in an effort to improve the fate of humanity and the rest of the galaxy…"

"It is all that just too little to fight for…?" he asked in an ironic tone.

"When Sally Ryan allowed Robert Lutece and Nicola Tesla to forge a new future in the Helios Complex and provide a better beginning for the dream of Rapture the fate of humanity was forever altered." He declared with conviction.

"We didn't play god, we are architects of destiny. Remember when we discussed the possibility of killing Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin along with many others?" he asked.

She made a pause remembering the time when they or more exactly their predecessors though about rewriting the entire history of the twentieth century, killing a few critical figures and preventing World War Two, saving millions of lives, but it was not so simple. Killing Hitler, Stalin and so many others would have most likely prevented a war, but according to simulations, a new even worse war could have been declared decades later, a war with much more advance weaponry including the nuclear bomb.

Instead they had focused entirely on Rapture and the technologies developed in there behind its frozen walls, until the moment was right to reveal themselves first to humanity and then to the galaxy.

"I know" she answered. "Perhaps the Protheans were right about the cycle of time; how in each era there are avatars of one specific trait capable of altering and moving history forward."

"Yes" he in turn responded. "Avatars of achievement and technology like Robert Lutece, Nicola Tesla, Brigit Tenembaum and my father; avatars of war and conquest like Caesar, Alexander the Great or you; and avatars of art, culture and social achievement like Leonardo Da Vinci and Nelson Mandela" he explained.

"Yet here we are" he made a pause and continued. "Two avatars of fate, working towards building a better future and outcome for the entire galaxy" he looked towards her in a more intimate way. "As well as fighting to prove ourselves that our lineages does not define us" he said and she returned the gaze.

"You are right Jack, we must continue onwards towards our plan" she conceded. "How is your side project?" she asked changing the subject.

"Still in its infancy, Codename Project Blue Butterfly: design of an apex Lilim. I will have to keep a close watch on her progenitors however" he explained. "What about Michael Shepard?" he asked.

"He is three years old, born in Sinclair Station" she explained. "Healthy and strong but still far too young to observe any considerable psychological trait, for once I believe we must stay away and prevent any unexpected outside influence to compromise his development. I am keeping Hannah Shepard close to me nevertheless; she is my friend and protégée no matter what."

"Good" then he adopted a more serious look. "However I am still concern about your new agent Jack Harper, the man is as brilliant as he is devious; he displays some of the best and worse traits of humanity all together. He may be destined for a very dark path, a path that could easily turn him into the most infamous human being in recorded history, and you know that."

"There is no fate Jack, only our choices just like your father use to say: we all make choices but in the end our choices make us" she sentenced.

The man was silent for a moment. "If you think he is capable of deciding his own destiny and taking a better path then I won't question your judgment."

"He and his team will do fine, they will act as our undercover agents and if anything happens I have Captain Hackett and his ship ready to extract them" she explained.

"Upstanding, meanwhile I will keep the Parliament off your back" he answered and smiled. "Carry on, Admiral Comstock" he ordered despite the fact it sounded more like a friendly request.

As she stood from her seat she returned the smile.

"Take care Representative Wynand"

XXXXX

 **2157.04.15**

 **Minos Wasteland, Arrae System**

 **LLC Nighthunter**

Eva lie next to him in the bed, still fast sleep, only wearing his plain grey T-shirt covering her naked pink body. He smiled she looked so perfect and innocent curled up between the sheets; her long legs were neatly shaven with her skin as smooth as silk.

He decided to play a little with her just to pass the time, she was so precious when she was sleep practically a stark contrast to her usual personality, hard headed and straight forward, with an attitude that made everyone think twice before even bothering her.

He grabbed one of her tits with one hand gently pressing the nipple, she shuddered in her sleep as she buried her head in the pillow as if was head butting it; meanwhile he moved his other hand between her legs and buried two of his fingers inside her wet warm orifice. She shuddered as a beast in pain with her eyes still close; he kissed her before removing both of her hands from her special places and gently stroked her hair.

His data-tool blinked and the voice of his XO came through "Captain we are approaching Gellix".

"Thank you Zarrum" he sighted as he answered. "Lieutenant Core and I will be ready in 15 minutes."

He turned back to Eva to found her awake and looking back to him with annoyance written all over her face, to his surprise she leaned closer to him and kiss him on the lips. "Good morning captain" she said.

After taking a quick shower and changing into their regular clothes they arrived on the CIC, waiting for them there was Jack Harper's second in command Zarrum, unlike other Kashani Zarrum Ne Galdium was something else: he was incredible tall standing near a head and shoulders taller than Jack certainly far much taller than a normal male kashani; but his most interesting fact was his last name.

According to a few tales, he was 3 years old when the Galdium terrorist sent him into a ship leaving Muin-Saku with half of his weight in explosives attached to his back, another declaration from the Galdium religious fanatics against space exploration. By mere chance the explosives were defective and he was immediately caught by the security of the ship. He was send to a reeducation facility, but by that time he was already changed, seeing outer space and his own planet from orbit had forever reshaped his soul and completely shattered his faith in the Galdium religion.

Taking his birth name he passed through the reeducation facility without issue (other than more than a few fights with other children) and left Muin-Saku as soon as he was old enough to do so, later working in human settlements where he met Jack Harper and his growing pro Commonwealth movement; he was skilled and intelligent and most importantly he had little to lose, as he was a Galdium his chances to find a home or a job among his own people were slim.

The rest of the CIC consisted on his weapons expert the young Ben Hislop and Ben's girlfriend the young talosian engineer Nalhia, Jack was slightly disturbed by the relationship between a human young man like Ben with a talosian woman, even though Nalhia was brilliant and pretty in her unique way; this was an USC ship one way or another and Ben could do whatever he wanted with whoever he wanted if that was his decision.

In the holographic table on the CIC a hologram of the planet showed two highlight points one in orbit and one in the surface: a turian frigate apparently heavily damage and inactive remained in orbit while in the surface a distress beacon was sending a signal to all active channels.

According to the scans the turian ship had suffered catastrophic damage: her hull was full of mass accelerator impacts with three of the ship's decks opened to the void; the eezo core had been shut down, perhaps in an attempt to prevent a core meltdown and the ship's hull was almost as cold as the rest of the background space, dead as a floating corpse on a river.

Most likely the ship's crew had evacuated to the surface of the planet waiting for rescue, yet the distress signal was far too weak to leave the system far less the cluster.

"¿What are your orders captain?" Zarrum asked, after giving a preliminary report of their scans and the most likely scenarios to act on.

"Prepare the Condor we are taking a look at that distress beacon" he ordered. "Eva, Ben and I will go" he informed his first officer who dilated his pupils in a little surprised to hear that he will only be taking two of the crew and only humans; Jack noted that.

"If the Turians or anyone else sees us it is better they only see a few humans instead of an entire crew of USC citizens, we cannot allow our actions to compromise the USC" he explained. "Three humans not wearing USC uniforms can be easily confused as mercenaries or members of the GTI; we are giving the USC deniable plausibility" he added.

Zarrum nodded in understanding.

After a few minutes of preparation Ben, Eva and Jack were in their tactical armors lacking any USC insignia or ID; they looked more like mercenaries than soldiers yet that did not made them less threatening.

Climbing onboard the Condor drop shuttle the group prepared to descend into the sterile world that was Gellix, according to the Codex the planet was granted to the Krogan after the Rachni wars, but it was bitterly contested in the Krogan Rebellions and later re conquered by the turians, in a conflict that left much of its surface and ecosystem destroyed. The end of the war left the turians as caretakers to a levo-amino-acid-based world that they could not inhabit themselves but were unwilling to give up.

In cooperation with the Vol Protectorate, the turians attempted to rent the planet out for colonization. Between the high price and a surface littered with unexploded ordnance, however, Gellix found few reputable tenants. To those who know of it today, Gellix is a symbol of tragic waste, an entire garden world nearly forgotten by the galaxy at large.

With Eva acting as the pilot the shuttle carved through the atmosphere and standing above thousands of meters from the surface it gently flew across the distance. After a few minutes they arrived at the location of the distress beacon, an open terrain surrounded by deserted ruins.

Landing approximately 1 and half kilometers from the location they prepared to disembark.

The ruined broken settlement was a ghost town dating back to the krogan rebellions, its buildings made of ancient concrete were broken and disrepair; the three humans walked into the location marked on their HUDs. Something felt wrong; the data in their HUD informed them of low levels of radiation in the ground thankfully not enough to be considered a hazard to human life; as well as a complete absence of bacterial life form in the ground, the whole area was as barren and sterile as a broken asteroid. An enormous ruined building similar in appearance to a temple or a palace was in front of them, with the blinking triangle of the beacon in their HUD pointing to the inner area of the ruin.

"I have a bad feeling about this" he informed his squad. "Keep your eyes open" he ordered, Eva and Ben nodded.

"I am sending a recon drone to explore" he informed them as they stood only a few meters from the entrance to the palace.

Eva and Ben got their rifles up, and took an alert position ready to jump to cover in case of attack; meanwhile the sphere shape drone flew into the building while an orange holographic 3D representation of the ruin was projected from the Data-Tool in the Jack's wrist.

Data flow through the display, from markings of damage, radiation and chemical analysis to warnings of seismic and structural dangers. Finally after a few seconds of traversing the ruin the drone reached an inner chamber where the beacon was located, several crates surrounded the automatic beacon as the drone continued to scan the room. An alert of movement suddenly blinked in the display, the drone went to alert mode and engaged its optical cloaking turning invisible to the naked eye.

The drone moved to the coordinates of the movement, deploying a signal eco the drone managed to detect at least a dozen live individuals surrounding the beacon; it took only a nano second for Jack to process what he was seeing: fourteen soldiers hidden behind the walls and ruins, ready to attack anyone who had been stupid enough to enter the building.

It was a trap; the distress beacon had been placed to lured unsuspected victims to an ambush. Before the drone could detect anything else, a pulse of blue energy most likely a biotic warp hit the ground around it, frying the drone's circuits.

"Return to the ship, NOW" he ordered before turning back and calling the ship in orbit. "Nighthunter engage stealth system and stay out of sight! It's an ambush! The beacon is a trap" he informed Zarrum and the rest of his crew.

As they turned around to flee the place, Jack eyes blinked as three red lasers sights coming from the roof on another building moved towards them and immediately took position in the center of the body. Jack looked down to his chest to see the red dot of death aiming at his heart the same was for Eva and Ben.

His automatic HUD gave him an enhanced display of three shapes on the roof of the near building, based on the slender figure, elongated head and 'horn like protuberances' Jack could conclude without a doubt that they were salarians snipers.

The three of them immediately froze in place, knowing that any move could mean their deaths if the snipers take the shot. Jack's ears caught the sound of movement inside the building clearly the ambushers ready to attack them.

"SMOKE SCREEN NOW¡" he ordered.

In an instant Ben unlatched one of the grenades from his belt and threw it to the ground while his barriers flared when one of the snipers fired on him.

The grenade blew up and displayed a cloud of smoke as the three humans sprinted as fast as they could into the cover of another of the ruined buildings. The ground exploded with sparks as the snipers began firing on them, missing most of the shots but scraping their kinetic barriers with the rest.

Bypassing a building which would have left them exposed to both sides and throwing another smoke bomb to cover themselves from the sniper's fire, the squad took shelter near a ruined house as they threw themselves behind a large wall for cover.

Impact rounds hit the other side of the wall, the enemy was on the other side; deploying his tech shield, Ben deployed an energy riot shield on his left hand as he stood up and returned fire with the riffle on the other. His shield flared with each impact as he emptied his thermal clip with quick fire; Jack on the other hand deployed his advance fragmentation grenade letting it rolled like a smart ball into the enemy position. Ben returned to cover just before his shield blinked out of existence.

A large explosion followed by the rain of earth, stone and alien shattered bloody parts fell on them, the frag grenade did its job.

Jack guided his squad out of the house avoiding enemy fire, into a narrow alley between two buildings. A single turian soldier shot them from cover, receiving concentrated fire on one his shoulders Jack's barriers almost broke, but he quickly aimed his riffle and fire a hailstorm of armor piercing rounds into the dinobird's head. The turian's barrier lasted a long second before the skull face's blue blood and brains painted the walls of the alley with blue splashes like a Jackson Pollock's painting.

 _Salarians, a Turian and the biotic blast suggest an Asari; this ambush group is far too heterogeneous to be mercenaries or criminals, this is an organized crew._

He looked back to the dead Turian his crimson color armor, standard issue of the Turian army.

 _They are neither eclipse mercs nor black fleet pirates._

"Moved out, on the double" he ordered. "We are reaching our ship, before them" he informed his squad.

Suddenly a single Asari wearing a blue and white armor warped herself in front of them in a biotic blast that hit them like a grenade at close range. Their ears ringed with pain as everything around them felt like as an earthquake was in effect.

Despite the blast, Jack focused his plasmid Electroshock and threw a lightning at the Asari commando, her barrier took the impact but she was in clear pain from the current running through her body. Just as he was about to fire on the asari a huge Turian came from his side and jump on him with his omni-blade ready to pierce the human's chest. Using his riffle to block the first strike and then stopping the Turian arm with his own forearm Jack used his strength enhanced by the artificial muscle of his armor to throw the Turian into the wall. Then he threw a quick hit with the butt of his riffle in the turian's head.

Meanwhile taking advantage of the Asari temporarily paralysis, Eva used her plasmid Telekinesis to throw a medium size boulder into the blue armor commando. The asari focused her biotic barriers in front of her and stopped the boulder from ripping her head, but she was thrown a few steps back by the force of several kilograms of stone fling towards her.

In that moment before Ben and Eva could shot the Asari down and Jack killed the Turian, three metal cilinders fell in front of them; the Turian jumped to cover while the Asari warped herself out of harm's way. Before Eva could use her Telekinesis to fling the cylinders away they instantly exploded.

The last thing Jack Harper could remember as he was swallowed by blackness was a ringing pain on his ears as if time itself had stop.

XXXXX

His eyes blinked in pain as a bright light like the sun was directed on him, his eyes with anger and pain attempted to adjust to the light of his surroundings.

"Wake up human" a deep rusty voice woke him from his slumber, he blinked again trying to make out the figure in front of him, as he try to stand up he felt his hands constricted, and his body restrained.

As his eyes finally adapted to the light he began to fully understand his surroundings: he was tied up into a chair with heavy metal manacles keeping his hands on place and several leather binds were around his chest and waist.

As for the where, it was clearly a med bay most likely on a ship, he looked around, there were two more turians on the room but they were dressed as scientists or medics, while the third in front of him was the same turian he had fought before still in his dented crimson armor, he could not understand why, but there was something familiar about that turian in particular, that and the fact that unlike most turians he did not used any face paint or makings.

Most distressing however was the fact that there were no traces of Eva and Ben anywhere in the room, not even recently unoccupied chairs.

 _If they are dead, I will kill every alien in this place even if it's the last thing I'll ever do_

"Where I am?" he asked defiantly. "And where are my companions?" he demanded.

"They are alive and well, but now I will ask the questions" answered the turian. "Who are you and what are you doing in Citadel Space?" he demanded accusingly.

He stared at the Turian with defiance before realizing a sight and answering with the manufactured story they have prepared beforehand. "My name is Jack Harper my crew was hired as mercenaries to recover any salvage possible from the battles between the Terminus Black Fleet and the Citadel Council's forces" he explained. "When we found that derelict Turian ship in orbit we thought we had just hit payday; it seems we triggered your little trap instead" he continued saying his story trying to sound as sincere as possible. "Now is my turn, who are you?" he demanded.

"My name is lieutenant Saren Arterius, that all you are getting human" the turian answered with disgust, Jack's eyes betrayed a hint of recognition.

 _Now I know why this turian looks so familiar_

"Something to do with General Desolas Arterius?" he asked, his mind was debating between maintain his thoughts secret or satisfy his inquisitive nature, in the end his curiosity was more than his desire to maintain secrecy.

The turian reacted with distrust and surprise upon hearing the question.

"How do you know my brother's name?" he demanded.

"Every human knows about General Desolas Arterius" he answered with disgust. "Ruthless commander at Shanxi, he killed half of the population of an entire town outside Quinhai because they refused to surrender; they were not even soldiers, they were just scared civilians with guns" he spitted with venom on his voice.

The turian narrowed his eyes like a predator staring at his prey. "Where is your ship?" he demanded, this time with more determination "How did you arrive into this system?" he asked with impatience.

Jack returned the angry gaze and kept his mouth shut.

"ANSWER ME! NOW!" he shouted.

Before he could shout again, the doors of the room opened and that tall asari commando using the blue armor came through accompanied by a handcuffed Eva.

Eva immediately ran to him and embraced him in a hug to the surprise of the asari and turians in the room, unbeknownst to them she slip a small metal lock pick onto his pocket, before making a signal with her eyes.

"What did he say operative Saren" the asari asked.

"The same as the others" he answered. "I don't buy it for a second" he said in low voice.

This time the asari approached them in a threatening manner.

"Mister Harper is it?" she asked. "Where is your ship, it is clear you did not come into this system in that small shuttle" she demanded.

 _So Zarrum and the rest of the crew engaged the stealth system and they are out of sight_ , he reasoned.

"There is no more crew, we used a rift gate to directly jump into the system, but without clearance from us the rift gateway will not be open again" he lied, attempting to keep the Nighthunter safe.

"A good story, but we did not detect any gravitational anomalies in the system, which is a general indication of your rift gates" she answered. "We read some weird radiation and heat signatures in orbit before they vanished completely. You came here in one of your stealth ships" she sentenced.

He and Eva briefly exchanged looks but both of them kept their mouths shut, yet before the asari could make any more questions a general alarm went through the ship.

The asari and turian looked at each other before a nearly nervous expression appeared on the blue skin woman. "Saren take the female to the brig" she ordered before turning to the other two turians. "And you two keep your eyes on him."

XXXXX

Not wasting any time Spectre Tela Vasir sprinted her way to the bridge of the Divine Judgment, Saren arrived a few minutes later.

She could not believe the absurdity of the situation: A few days ago, she had been able to escape the invasion of Illium in this frigate taking advantage of the chaos of the attack and evacuation. After returning to Citadel Space a punitive fleet composed of a joint turian, asari and asari ships was dispatched to liberate Illium, with the Divine Judgment spearheading the assault as they had seen the attack first hand; but upon entering the Tasale System they fell into a trap.

The Black Fleet completely ignoring Citadel Accords had mined the Tasale relay entrance with magnetic mines; attracted by the mass of the capital ships the punitive fleet lost half of their cruisers in the opening minutes the frigates like the Judgment were able to avoid most of the damage. Just when the fleet was about to cross the mine field three squadrons of black fleet ships made a short range FTL jump and surrounded them. From more than a hundred ships only two frigates, the turian HWS Gurlek and the ARH Divine Judgment were able to limp back to another system.

It had been three hard days with the Black fleet ships pursuing them, worse still they had forced their drive cores to the limit, without a planet to discharge the electric energy pile up on their hulls both ships had sent their mass effect cores into meltdown.

By the time they reached the Arrae System the Gurlek was already crippled beyond repair and the Judgment was only still functional because asari ships were equipped with two drive cores: one of them was fried the other was badly damage, also they have lost communication so they were stranded, the entire survivors of the disastrous attack on Illium confined to a single ship.

Besides the Turians from the Gurlek there were also a few salarians STG operatives who they have rescued from the escape pods after the retreat, tension were high inside the Judgment.

In an attempt to repair the ship and perhaps even lay a trap for their pursuers, they have used the distress beacon of the Gurlek as bait to lure anyone with a functional ship to Gellix where they could perform an ambush. The drifting hull of the Gurlek in orbit was a bluff set in place to ensure the enemy lowers their guard and focus their attention on it while the Judgment was waiting hidden on the other side of Gellix moon outside the scope of any scanners by the moon's magnetic field.

But they did not expected to encounter humans beings falling into their trap, humanity and the USC were new to the galactic community but she knew a spy when she find it. Jack Harper and his crew were clearly not soldiers nor they look like mercenaries; they were beyond any doubt spies and agents, perhaps the very own USC version of spectres.

When Vasir and Saren arrived to the bridge captain Jaira Vyur commanding officer of the asari frigate and the salarian commander Captain Nour Dolan were looking at the holographic display of the system with distress.

"Two signals have just arrived through the relay, IFF confirms it, they are Batarian frigates; it's the black fleet!" a maiden on one of the consoles informed them, her voice laced with fear.

 _Bad time to abandon our hiding spot looks like we will have to fight or run our way through_

"What is the status of our drive cores" Vasir asked with concern.

"Not good" the salarian commander answered. "One is disabled and the other is unstable, if we risk going through the relay or perform an FTL jump the static energy release could kill everyone on the ship" he explained.

"Goddess help us" another asari said in a loud prayer.

"Attention all crew, prepare for combat!" the captain ordered.

XXXXX

At the CIC of the Nighthunter Commander Zarrum Ne Galdium was watching the engagement with distress, according to the signal of the implants in Captain Harper, Eva Core and Ben Hislop were inside the asari ship.

"The two batarian frigates are closing in to destroy the asari frigate which is attempting to flee through the atmosphere of Nirrus the system's only gas giant, perhaps they are trying to perform a slingshot maneuver to flee" Nalhia informed him.

In the holographic display the CIC crew focused their attention to the scan of the gas giant and the ships fighting over its surface.

"Remarkable it looks like they are trying to force their pursuers to get close so they could use their disruptor torpedoes to ignite the methane on the atmosphere in order to hide their heat signature from enemy fire and weaken the batarian ship's barriers" DEDALUS explained.

Despite his dislike for the Turians and the Citadel Council Zarrum could not help but feel a little concern for the Citadel frigate, not only because his captain and friends were onboard but because he could recognize a fair fight when he see one and this was not.

"I can't believe I am saying this but prepare for combat" he informed to the shock of his crew. "We need to intervene, if that ship is destroyed then our captain and friends who are onboard will go down with her" he explained as he turned his attention to the two batarian frigates. "And our mission was to recover any Intel regarding the Terminus Black Fleet movements, this is our chance to do so" he declared.

"BATTLE STATIONS!" ordered Zarrum.

XXXXX

"Kinetic barriers at 15%" one bridge officer informed with panic. "We have ruptures at deck 3 and 4; we are losing structural integrity!"

"Mass effect core temperature is critical"

"Fire disruptor torpedoes into the methane pockets, we need to prevent the enemy from targeting us" the captain ordered.

"Methane explosions are weakening out barriers, we need to pull back" an officer informed them.

"Second batarian frigate approaching from mark 4, they are flanking us!"

The captain looked at the flickering holo projection, the enemy was coming from behind and the left flank; if they made sharp turn they were going to exposed their sterns to enemy fire and if they maintained course the other ship was going to attack them from the side. Another quake went through the ship as the hologram and the lights flickered.

"Direct hit, barriers down to 4%" an officer informed them breathlessly.

Releasing an internal prayer for the goddess, captain Vyur knew it was over; she had failed on her duty; she had failed her people; she had failed herself as she had never gave birth to any daughters that could remember her after she was gone. Yet it had been a long, good life.

 _Goddess be with us_

Suddenly another heat signature appeared on the display as the batarian frigate on the bow flank was hit by a mass accelerator impact and a rain of disruptor torpedoes that tear apart its hull. As the scanner cleared the signature the shape of a weird shaped vessel appeared on the display.

"Confirm unknown ship" the scan officer informed them. "Unknown ship standing 90 meters long, corvette class, IFF confirms: USC" everyone on the bridge exchange looks.

Back to the display they watched as the batarian frigate turned to face her new opponent but the USC corvette was able to easily outmaneuver the enemy fire before closing in at a nearly suicide vector of approach; it was as if the USC ship was attempting to ram the enemy frigate. When the batarian frigate steered out of the way laser fire from the USC vessel pierced through the barriers before unleashing another rain of disruptor torpedoes. With fire coming from its underbelly the batarian frigate lowered speed before exploding in the middle of the void.

Thinking fast the captain took a decision

"Open a communication on all frequencies" she ordered to the confusion of her comm officer and the rest of the bridge. "NOW" she ordered.

"USC vessel, we require your aid" she said to the comm channel; to the amazement of her entire crew. "I know you don't trust us and we don't trust you, but we have your crew onboard our survival is their survival" she declared.

"What are you doing captain?" asked the turian Saren with disgust.

"Saving our lives Operative Arterius" she answered.

"Captain the USC vessel is approaching to the batarian warship from mark 2" the scan officer informed them.

"Turn us around, is time to return fire" she ordered.

Like two birds of prey the stingray shape asari frigate and the pitch black USC corvette turn to attack the last Black fleet vessel. The batarians focused most of their fire in the immediate threat that was the Nighthunter while the Divine Judgment prepared to unleash her main gun on the far slower batarian frigate.

The nearly null heat signature of the USC vessel and its small size and speed made it a far too elusive target for the batarian guns. Another Mass accelerator round hit the kinetic barrier of the Black fleet vessel, then the asari ship moved to join the fray firing her own main gun.

After a last hailstorm of disruptor torpedoes from both vessels the batarian frigate exploded in pieces with her shattered remains were slowly swallowed by the gravity well of the gas giant. They had won.

"Captain we are receiving a transmission" the comm officer informed them.

"Asari ship this is the independent corvette LLC Nighthunter you have our people in custody; we have just save your lives so I formally request for you to release them as well as return our survey ship" a rough voice spoke through the comm.

"We cannot release the humans, the USC vessel may be small but its stealth capabilities and weapons, makes them a formidable enemy; if we return the humans to them we lose our only bargaining chip" the salarian commander said.

"I agree with Commander Dolan" the turian operative Saren said.

XXXXX

At the engineering bay of the Divine Judgment three asari engineers fight against the critical readings and coolant liquid leak. The one closest to the core was using her biotics to seal the breaches and contain the liquid nitrogen in place; meanwhile the electric current on the core having reach critical levels during the battle was starting to break free.

"We have to vent most of our fuel, before the core ignites it" the chief engineer ordered.

"We can't the controls are not responding" another said.

"This is getting tiresome…" the asari next to the core containing several biotic barriers at the same time said with tiredness on her voice. "Come here and help…" a shock of electricity hit her mid-sentence.

Suddenly the core light up like the Citadel wards at night, the whole room was like the eye of a storm, lighting was fired from the core, while every coolant leaks were opened; a mist of cold liquid nitrogen flooded the room. The remaining two engineers got their mask on, before the air freeze their lungs.

"Bridge, the core is in meltdown we have to abandon ship" shouted the chief engineer.

XXXXX

"Well it looks like we have no choice now" the captain declared on the bridge to the rest of the room.

"Prepare the human dropship we are taking the three humans as hostages" the spectre Tela Vasir ordered. "We can secure passage to the closest system in the USC ship, in exchange for their liberation" she clarified.

"How do you know we can trust the humans" Saren asked.

"We can't and we won't" the salarian said to the surprise of the rest of the bridge. "But other alternative is either blow up with the ship or remain waiting for days or weeks in the escape pods. Chances for survival are higher by seeking collaboration with the USC" he explained.

Nodding, Saren agreed and followed the rest of the officers into the med bay while the rest of the surviving crew was heading to either the storage bay where the human craft had been housed or the escape pods.

After a few minutes the entire crew had abandoned the ship, while the officers: Captain Jaira Vyur, her first officer Nasha Lentinus, the spectre Tela Vasir, the salarian commander Dolan, the turian operative Saren Arterius and the three humans were onboard the Condor. As the doors of the bay opened up the human Eva Core led the shuttle out of the hangar.

Only a few minutes had passed before the Divine Judgment exploded in a blue fire small supernova.

"I was in command of that ship for 120 years; I cannot believe it is gone" Captain Jaira lamented with her first officer comforting her.

"Condor 1, this is Nighthunter, are you okay?" Zarrum voice asked through the comms.

"We are okay commander, we and the Citadel crew have reached an understanding" Jack Harper explained while looking back to his previous captors. "We are about to dock have security ready at the shuttle bay and prepare to receive us" he ordered.

"Yes sir" Zarrum said.

This was maybe the beginning of a strange alliance.

XXXXX

 **CODEX:**

 **Corvette Nighthunter:** The Nighthunter corvette was a prototype project for a cheaper and smaller stealth ship that could travel undetected through the mass relay network without using any advance rift gate technology that could be compromise in case of capture. Standing over 80 meters long, the Nighthunter can also be classified as a light frigate; the design is considered unusual among the USC navy, as the corvette carries a mass effect eezo core nearly twice the size a ship of a normal ship. Also the ship makes use of highly dense rearden steel multi-layer armor plating not only as protection but as a heat and radiation insulation capable of masking the ship's signature from scans as well as reflecting or absorbing radar signals. Also just like the shroud class; its long time predecessor the Nighthunter makes use of a refined version of the IES (internal emission sink) stealth system.

Despite the fact that the ship was design to avoid combat and use for reconnaissance purposes only, she carries an impressive array of weapons: her main gun is a single coil gun mounted cannon; also she makes use of several well placed point defense ion laser turrets to use in close quarter engagements as well as a full complement of disruptors torpedoes. Because of its size, the ship carries only one auxiliary craft for survey missions, as well as a small detachment of escape pods.

Even though the project was approved by the Human Federation's Fleet Command and a single prototype was manufactured, the production of the Nighthunter class corvette was immediately discontinued after the outbreak of the First Contact War. Changes in doctrine after the experience in the short war against the Turians convinced the Federation's admiralty to focus around lines of frigates, destroyers and capital ships; while the Nighthunter was considered far too small to represent any real opponent to Turian frigates and easily outmatch in every way by the existing models of Stealth Frigates.

The immense cost of producing a single corvette of the class was also deemed far too high for mass production. Only rumors remain about the fate of the only Nighthunter class prototype developed by the Commonwealth's navy.

XXXXX

 **LLC Nighthunter (independent corvette):**

 **CREW:**

 **-Captain Jack Harper – Commanding Officer (Combat – Specialist):** Leader of Admiral Comstock unofficial secret unit, Jack Harper is an elite cover operative with a high IQ, nearly eidetic memory and he has been highly trained in counter intelligence and advance warfare. As a combat specialist he makes use of recon and hacking drones as well as non-lethal plasmids: Electroshock, Telekinesis and Mirage decoy.

 **-Zarrum Ne Galdium – Executive Officer (Kashani – Infiltrator):** Renegade kashani with training in marksmanship and infiltration. Enhanced senses, use of advance techno optical cloaking.

 **-Eva Core – Gunnery Officer (Plasmid – Enforcer):** Though as nails and ruthless, Eva Core is as gentle as meat grinder. Her training in weapons is considerable but her mastery of plasmid combat is terrifying. Enhanced perception, plasmids: Electro Bolt, Telekinesis, incinerate, Winter Blast and Gravity Well.

 **-Ben Hislop – Armory Chief (Tactic – Commando):** Young and eager, Ben Hislop's training is more focused around weapons and explosives than enhanced warfare or plasmid use. He has enhanced stamina and strength as well as a powerful adrenaline boost added to better mental disciplines.

 **-Nalhia'Jul'Khuret – Chief Engineer (Talosian – Technomancer):** As a talosian Nalhia has a better understanding of machines than any organic being, her eidetic memory and an inventive mind makes her a capable agent. She makes use of tech focus plasmids: Tech Possession and electro storm for example.

 **-Kalis'Vael nar Rannoch Nova – Chief medical officer (Quarian – Medic):** Biologist and medic, Kalis is a unique asset; specifically regarding her expertise in cybernetic enhancements.

-Ysin'Hoosan nar Jhulsen – Science officer

-Frank D. Ching – mess Sargent

-Aliyah Manaf – Helmsman

-Crewman Derek Rubeskin

-Crewman Plaia Li Manau

7 other crewmen: 5 humans, 2 kashani

-DEDALUS – Ship's AI

XXXXX

 **G-37 Condor Drop Shuttle:** Tactical drop ship issued for the Nighthunter class, The G-37 Condor is a prototype drop shuttle which contains minimum stealth capabilities and limited weaponry. Unlike other drop shuttles use by the Federation's Marine Corps like the Raven or the Vulture, the Condor is a medium size craft capable of transporting up to 14 people, including the pilots, with a total of 12 in a cramped cargo space with full complement, as well as a VI for navigation.

XXXXX

 **I hope this chapter was not to repetitive or short, my intention was to focus on the story of Mass Effect: Evolution, but I also wanted to show a little more of the integration of species and factions within the USC and I believe the LLC Nighthunter is the perfect place to do so.**

 **Shorter chapters are also easy to check for mistakes and corrections.**

 **Next chapter I will focus on the Illusive Man origin story and the secrets behind the Terminus Black Fleet and the Reapers; by the end of this storyline we will be going to the place where it all began: Rapture.**


	13. Author's Note

**Author's note: Impasse**

 **Hello everyone, I want to thank you all for your support to my fanfic story, but I have to admit that I have reached an impasse and breaking point of the story.**

My original idea for this crossover was a study of world building and characters developing a space adventure story in the mass effect storyline by incorporating elements of the fascinating Bioshock universe; however I feel that my intentions to design the USC as a plausible and deep civilization were originally good but by the addition of several OC alien species and the subsequent changes through the story have turned my story into a Frankenstein version of what it was supposed to be.

-My fixation for adding the two new species the Talosians and Kashani have forced me to spend time and attention in developing the aspects of their races, cultures and characters; time and attention I could have used to further develop the central characters of the story and the human factions that are the core of this story.

Simply put, while the kashani and Talosian as well as the USC may be fascinating and interesting, the time I spend thinking and describing them in the story is in detriment to the more interesting nations of humanity and the central characters of the Mass Effect and Bioshock storylines that fight their way through the pages of this Novel.

Also the difficulty to construct the USC as more than a badass copy of the Citadel Council has resulted in plot holes and inconsistencies through the storyline: for example the lame explanation for the activation of the shanxi relay that gave way to the First Contact War on the fourth chapter.

The philosophical layers of Bioshock are also lacking development, so I have come to a decision: I AM GOING TO WRITE A NEW VERSION OF THIS STORY, taking the best elements of the original and correcting the disastrous grammar errors that have plagued my writing, and made you all suffer along the way.

With any luck I will have my new version of this story in short time with corrected chapters, new chapters, contents and a better technique derived from experience to tell a new story for a space faring human civilization.

As a present for all your time and interest I would like to show you my 3D model of the Erebus Nexus in scale with the Citadel:

hicarus666/art/Erebus-5-808642816

hicarus666/art/Erebus-808642075

hicarus666/art/Erebus-4-808642758

hicarus666/art/Erebus-3-808642705

Be ready in short time for my new story:

 **The End of Eternity: Rise of the Terran Alliance**


End file.
